An out-of-contract League One footballer has claimed he would be playing as part of Manchester United’s struggling first team now had he been born a few years earlier
A League One player has boldly claimed he would be in Manchester United’s first team now if he’d been born a decade years earlier. Demetri Mitchell, 28, has just helped Exeter City to a 16th-place finish in the third tier, having left United in 2020.
Ruben Amorim’s side are only just higher in the Premier League, sitting 15th in the table ahead of the final three games. However, they could still end a trying campaign with silverware as they are on the brink of reaching the Europa League final.
United are in a dominant position after the first leg of their semi-final against Athletic Bilbao following a surprise 3-0 win in the Basque Country. Despite that, Mitchell is convinced he would be getting plenty of game time with the senior squad if he had been coming up through the ranks today.
“I reckon if I broke through during this era of Man United I’d be a first team regular,” he claimed on X. And judging by his follow-up comments, he was being deadly serious.
When quizzed about his preferred position on the pitch, the he said: “Wing back. Not saying I’d play every game, but I’d be a first team regular probs squad player.”
He further explained that he wouldn’t stand a chance at that level in his current condition. However, he was certain that his 20-year-old self could’ve made the grade.
“No not now [it] would take me too long to adapt,” he wrote in another reply. “When your [sic] 20 and in a Premier League environment the amount you learn in such a short period is vast as well as the facilities etc.
“There’s lads that could [have] made it that never got the chance and their [sic] not even playing now more talented than myself.”
Some fans pointed out that current left-backs like Patrick Dorgu or Harry Amass might block his path to the first team. But having witnessed the current state of affairs at Old Trafford, he seems to fancy his odds.
Mitchell had his first taste of senior United action in a 2-0 Premier League victory over Crystal Palace on the last day of the 2016/17 season.
He later had two loan spells at Hearts before making a permanent switch to Blackpool in summer 2020. He then moved to Hibernian in January 2022 before joining Exeter a year later.
The former England Under-20 star’s contract with the Grecians is set to run out this summer. He hasn’t been offered a new deal but has been invited to return for pre-season training.
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