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'We're really excited about him' - Manchester United have new candidate for first-team debut

-Credit:2025 Manchester United FC
-Credit:2025 Manchester United FC


Adam Lawrence has admitted Manchester United are "really excited" about Jaydan Kamason, who delivered an excellent performance against Arsenal in the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals.

United's Under-18s drew first blood against Arsenal through Jack Fletcher at the Emirates on Friday evening. Fletcher found the top right corner with a brilliant goal just after the half hour mark, but the hosts responded well and quickly turned the game around to lead 2-1 in the second half.

Max Dowman has been heavily involved with Arsenal first-team training sessions, despite being aged just 15-years-old, and he converted a penalty to fire the Gunners into the lead.

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United looked to be crashing out of the Youth Cup, but Kamason scored with just a few minutes remaining to force extra-time. The right-back's display was worthy of the man of the match award and Lawrence lavished him with praise when he spoke to the Manchester Evening News.

"In terms of training opportunities and being on the first-team radar, we speak about the U18s and Under-21s regularly and people above us know who the players are," he said.

"Jaydan has been in real good form of late, so he's in that position where he's put in some real strong and consistent performances, as you'd expect from a second year U18 player here.

"He's in a real good space. He's such a fantastic kid, he's got real good athleticism and he likes to get forward on the outside. And listen, he'll be watching that goal back for a while.

"It was a tremendous moment for him to score that goal to bring it back to 2-2 in that moment, a lovely occasion for him and he's a top kid, so I'm really pleased for him.

"We'd like to try take credit for the boy's improvement and stuff, but to be honest, each of the players have individual development plans and things they want to keep as their strengths and things they want to improve, so we'll do individual technical work and small group work.

Kamason's goal forced extra-time.
Kamason's goal forced extra-time.

"Then we'll break it down into specific positions and then it's up the players to really focus on what they want to improve, so for Jaydan, there's been no magic wand. He's made steady and consistent through deliberate practice and, like you say, he's improved his final ball.

"He's always been a full-back that has liked to get forward and he can wear people down, he's wiry, he's very athletic and can get on top of people and really impact the game in the final third.

"We're really excited about him and think that he has real big potential, but he's a humble kid and he'll know he needs to get better and that he's got things to work on."

Lawrence was proactive with his substitutions at the Emirates and United's strength in depth was the deciding factor. Bendito Mantato scored the winner from the bench in extra-time and another two substitutes, Jimmy Thwaites and Samuel Lusale, combined to create the goal.

U18 boss Lawrence was delighted and said: "I think to be able to come back twice in a game like this and win it extra-time, it's really special. What we do know about the boys is it's not an accident in terms of the attitude that we see every day and their mentality toward getting better and improving.

"They have history at being strong in the latter stages. We always felt we could score and have that moment, but there's always a chance it doesn't quite happen. I thought they showed character.

"We felt we had the game under good control. Arsenal were set up in a way tonight and were well-coached. They had a clear idea of what they wanted to do and they were a main threat in those transition moments, mainly through the boy Dowman and some of their attacking players.

"It was about being really extreme with the control we had, making more passes, managing the spaces and attacking when it was really obvious. If you just attack every time you get it or leave the game too open, it ends up getting a bit basketball-like, so we tried to manage it.

The U18s pictured celebrating their victory.
The U18s pictured celebrating their victory.

"It's not always easy in those situations because of the emotion of the occasion and the game was being stretched, there were tired legs and tired minds, but we did enough."

Lawrence was asked about the impact of the substitutes and added: "Very pleased, but not surprised because we have a really talented squad. Hand on my heart, if any of the seven subs had started the game today, I'd of had no problem with that, but you have to select a line up.

"I'm very pleased with how they performed when they came on. It's not easy coming on at that stage and as a coach, you're always trying to think of what you can do. Bendito was a real threat, Samuel Lusale off the left side and I thought Jimmy added freshness, control and gave us some real quality. Amir added quality and energy, and even Godwill coming to play extra-time."

United will face either Aston Villa or Plymouth Argyle in the Youth Cup semi-final and could face Manchester City in the final of the competition if they progress from the last-four.

"If it ended up being that way [City], that would be great because we'd be in the final, but we have a big game before we get there and we're not focused on that," Lawrence said.

"It's nice for the boys to enjoy this moment and then we'll start looking forward to the next couple of games and hopefully we'll be ready when that comes around.

"This competition is special for us, it's special for every club. We have a massive history in it and we want the boys to really embrace these occasions, so we've had three home games that have tested us in different ways and we've had to get past Chelsea and Arsenal in the last two rounds.

"If we're going to do anything in it, you have to beat the best and we'll take it one game at a time. We've got full confidence but we know what we're trying to do isn't easy."