Jose Mourinho has included a few youngsters in his pre-season tour. All of them have made their debuts for Manchester United’s first team but only have a handful of appearances under their belt. Who are they and why does Mourinho like them?

Axel Tuanzebe
Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and brought up in Rochdale, he joined United’s academy when he was eight-years-old. In 2015, when he was 17, he was named the academy player of the year. At the end of the season just gone, he was named the Reserve player of the year.

In February, the 19-year-old defender signed a new contract with Manchester United which will keep him at the club until 2020.

“I have always been a Manchester United supporter so I am naturally delighted to have signed a new contract,” he said in February. “To make my debut at Old Trafford in the FA Cup was a very proud moment, both for me and for my family. I am learning every day in training and it is also a great experience for me to now train with the first team. I would like to thank all of the coaches that I have worked with and I would especially like to thank the manager for giving me my debut for this great club.”

Tuanzebe has now made five appearances for United’s first team, making his debut against Wigan in the FA Cup and making his first league start against Arsenal at the Emirates.

Joel Pereira
The Portuguese goalkeeper joined United five years ago, when he was 16-years-old, and has enjoyed success in the youth team.

Last season, following an injury time goal to crown our Under-21 side Premier League champions for the third time in four years, Pereira was caught out on MUTV hailing his teammates as “fucking brilliant!”

Pereira has since made his first team debut and Jose Mourinho is a big fan of the goalie. If you trust Mourinho, you should use your promotional offer from BetVictor to put money on him being Portugal’s no.1 one day.

“I really do believe, if he continues his development and continues to work hard, he really can become the best Portuguese goalkeeper of the next generation,” said Mourinho.

Demetri Mitchell
The left-back was born in Manchester and started his career at Fletcher Moss Rangers – the same youth team that Wes Brown, Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck came from. He joined United when he was six and originally played as an attacker, but last season he moved to defence.

He was out of contract last summer but Mourinho extended his stay at the club by offering him a new deal.

Mitchell made his first team debut on the final day of last season’s Premier League campaign and put in a great shift during United’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.

“Coming from the Old Trafford area, to play at the stadium was just a dream come true,” Mitchell said after the game. It was a great experience and I’m so happy the manager gave me the chance. It was a blessing. I used to walk past the ground on my way to school and I used to look at it and dream about playing there. I used to play around there, in the parks, and a lot of my friends are obviously United fans like me. I’ve been at the club since I was six years old and playing for the first team is something I’ve been working towards ever since.”

Scott McTominay
McTominay’s association with United began when he was just five-years-old when he went to the club’s development centre in Preston. Despite being born in England, the player has claimed he is likely to represent Scotland if ever given the opportunity to play at international level. “I’m probably more Scottish than I am English,” he said.

In the U-16 side, he shared no.10 duties with Marcus Rashford but under Warren Joyce moved in to a midfield role.

McTominay made his United debut from the bench away to Arsenal last season before starting in the game against Palace.

“We’re all teammates and we’re all young players,” he said. “It’s just a dream to be playing in front of all these people and winning the game and doing what we do on the pitch. It was a brilliant day. Very proud.”