Jack Fletcher Joins Manchester United Squad Following Mainoo’s Injury

Jack Fletcher has been officially added to the Manchester United squad for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Tottenham, following the injury to Kobbie Mainoo. This inclusion continues the club’s impressive legacy of having an academy graduate in every matchday squad, a record that has stood for 88 years.

Mainoo, 20, did not accompany the team to London and is reported to have sustained a minor injury.

Jack Fletcher, an England youth international and the son of former United midfielder and current Under-18s coach Darren Fletcher, has traveled with the team. At just 18 years old, he has yet to make his first-team debut for Manchester United, although he has been named on the first-team bench multiple times last season.

In 2023, Fletcher and his twin brother Tyler joined United from Manchester City’s academy. Jack has recently been selected for England’s Under-19 squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers in Lithuania, where he may face his brother Tyler, who is part of Scotland’s squad.

For the past four matches, Mainoo has been the sole academy graduate in United’s squad. Although goalkeeper Tom Heaton is also an academy product, the 39-year-old currently serves as the third-choice keeper behind Altay Bayındır and Senne Lammens.

Another academy graduate, Stockport-born Tyler Fredricson, has appeared in the squad this season, starting in the EFL Cup loss against Grimsby.

Manchester United is proud of its tradition of including at least one homegrown player in every matchday squad since 1937, a streak that now spans over 4,000 consecutive games. This remarkable sequence began on October 30, 1937, with the involvement of Tom Manley and Jack Wassall in an away game against Fulham.

The club defines a homegrown player as anyone who signed before the age of 21 without having played for another senior team, and who has participated in a junior team at United.

Coach Ruben Amorim has expressed commitment to preserving this historic record, despite recent criticisms from minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe regarding concerns over the academy’s standards.