Manchester United's lack of depth was exposed in their squad to face Leeds United on Sunday, as their bench had only a combined 1,110 minutes between them.
Ruben Amorim's side are without the injured Bruno Fernandes and have also lost Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui to the Africa Cup of Nations this month. Even two of their starting center backs, Lisandro MartÃnez (320 minutes) and Ayden Heaven (532), have barely played this season.
As a result, the bench to face Leeds was largely full of academy players, with backup goalkeeper Altay Bayindir (540 from six games) and striker Joshua Zirkzee (438, from 12) the only two full senior players with any meaningful minutes this season.
Left back Tyrell Malacia (2) has struggled with injuries since his arrival from Feyenoord in 2022 and spent last season on loan with PSV Eindhoven.
Twins Jack (107) and Tyler Fletcher (0) are the sons of United legend Darren and joined the Red Devils from Manchester City's academy in 2023 but have yet to make a significant impact on the senior side. Though Jack has played across three games, Tyler has yet to come on.
Elsewhere, 17-year-old Bendito Mantato (15) and 18-year-old forward Shea Lacey (6) were listed on the bench, while defenders Tyler Fredricson (2) and 17-year-old Godwill Kukonki (0) were also there.
Though United will get some of their stars back in a few weeks after AFCON ends, manager Amorim will surely be looking to add to his squad in the January window given such an alarming lack of depth.
