Louis van Gaal was rarely afraid to promote youngsters to the Manchester United first-team fold during his two seasons in charge at Old Trafford.

Occupying the managerial hot seat between the summer of 2014 and May 2016, the experienced Dutchman handed out 12 senior debuts to United academy graduates.

He was in favour of promoting from within and he wanted to give youngsters who were climbing the rungs of the youth ladder belief that there was a route to the first-team. Some of those who made their United debuts under Van Gaal became household names, whereas others were quickly forgotten about.

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The 2014/15 campaign - Van Gaal's first at the club - saw United finish inside the top four. However, they were unable to supplement that achievement with a piece of silverware. United did not compete in Europe that season, they crashed out of the League Cup at the first hurdle, infamously losing 4-0 to MK Dons in the second round, and were knocked out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage by Arsenal.

The aforementioned defeat to MK Dons saw Reece James, Saidy Janko and Andreas Pereira awarded their debuts for the club. Had circumstances been different, it may have also marked the night that Tyler Blackett had made his United bow.

Instead, the defender made his competitive debut for the Reds ten days earlier, starting United's 2-1 defeat to Swansea City in their 2014/15 Premier League opener. After an encouraging pre-season campaign, Blackett started in a back-three alongside Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.

Blackett, who was 20 at the time, kept his place in the starting XI for each of United's first five league games of the season. Suddenly, his underwhelming loan spell at Birmingham City the previous season was a distant memory. The Manchester-born defender, who had been on United's books since the age of eight, was living his dream.

"It means everything to me," he said at the time. "I was brought up here in Manchester and playing now for United is like a dream come true. Hopefully, I'll continue to do my best for the club."

But after being sent off in United's 5-3 defeat to Leicester City in their fifth game of the season, Blackett struggled to reclaim his place, not starting in the league again until a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in November. That marked his sixth appearance for the club - and it also marked the halfway mark in his United career.

Despite that, he was given a new two-year contract in February 2015, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2017. Van Gaal was delighted to have tied him down, tipping him for a bright future.

"I am delighted that Tyler has signed a new contract," said Van Gaal. "He is another young player that has risen through the academy system to break into the first-team squad this season.

"Tyler has great potential and I believe he is at the right club to continue his development and progression to become a great defender."

After confirmation of him signing a new deal was announced, Blackett played just two more games for the club, making two substitute appearances. He spent the 2015/16 season on loan at Celtic and left Old Trafford permanently in August 2016, joining Reading, linking up with former United defender Jaap Stam.

Despite never really establishing himself as a regular starter at Old Trafford, Blackett will always be grateful to Van Gaal for giving him the opportunity to try and make his mark in a United shirt.

He recently told Flashscore: "He was great for me. He obviously had trust in young players and gave you that confidence by giving those outlines and what he expected from you. That's what you had to focus on, and that helped me at that time.

"He was a manager who gave me an opportunity, and I have always praised him and thanked him for that."

Blackett spent four years with Reading, making north of 120 appearances, before joining Nottingham Forest for a year. After leaving the City Ground, he moved to the United States and joined FC Cincinnati, for whom he made 33 appearances, before returning to England in March 2023 and linking up with Rotherham United.

"With the injuries in the squad right now it seemed like a good time to step in and help out," he said, explaining why he made the decision to join the then-Championship outfit.

Blackett made six appearances between his March arrival and the end of the season, helping the Millers beat the drop. Following the end of the season, he signed a new one-year deal in South Yorkshire to keep him at the club for the 2023/24 season.

However, his campaign was wrecked by injury issues, limiting him to just 12 appearances in league and cup. He made his final appearance on October 4, 2023, in a 2-1 defeat to Bristol City, marking the occasion with a goal.

Blackett was unsurprisingly released at the end of the season and eight months on he is still searching for a new club.

Addressing his current situation, Blackett said: "How I've been? Okay. It's not been easy by any means, it's something which I've not had to deal with in my career before. Some days better than others.

"But I'm just getting through – staying fit and training. Just keeping on top of things and doing what I can do to be ready when the right opportunity comes.

"It's about waiting for the right fit now. There's been some interest at different times, but it's not really been right for me."

Not turning 31 until April, Blackett is at an age where he should be in the prime of his career. To have gone more than 12 months without playing is a sad and eye-opening scenario for a player held in such high esteem by United a decade ago.

Van Gaal showed plenty of faith in him and for a time it looked as though he may be able to have a long and successful career at Old Trafford. However, things did not quite work out for the former England Under-21s international.

Blackett was often excellent for Reading but it has been a challenging period since. The 30-year-old will be hoping he can revive his career again at some point in the not too distant future and put a difficult period behind him.