Staying at Man United should remain number one priority for youngsters

United have been given a lot of stick over the last few months for letting promising youngsters that have come through the academy to go. Arguably three of the most promising and exciting youngsters who played their part in the FA Youth Cup success of 2011; Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba and Ezekiel Fryers, have all since left United to pursue footballing careers elsewhere. Although the players themselves have attempted to shadow their real motives for leaving, it’s pretty clear that money is the major factor for these youngsters.

Paul Pogba was reportedly upset at the lack of playing time he was given, but that didn’t stop him pushing through a move to Italian team Juventus who had just gone a year unbeaten. Sir Alex later called him disrespectful towards the club, a claim Pogba denied earlier in the week by suggesting he’ll get more playing time at Juventus as United – something that I can’t see happening. I wonder if the 45 thousand pound a week contract United rightly refused to play had a part in it?

Ezekiel Fryers was keen to stay at United but, according to reports, wasn’t happy with the contract he was offered. United are apparently the “club of his dreams” and, with numerous reports of how much he was actually offered, it seems odd that a Manchester lad wasn’t ready to stay at the club on that reasonable amount of money. Finally, Ravel Morrison was a different case because of his poor behaviour and attitude – but nevertheless his “first team football” claims were probably linked with the extra money offered by West Ham.

In the past, United have been guilty of trying to, in one sense, blackmail the Manchester lad by offering them less because they have an affection to the club like no other. We’ve seen it in the past with the likes of Wes Brown and even recently, United were seemingly initially reluctant to pay Danny Welbeck’s contract demands. But with youngsters, who have had little or no impact and experience in the first team, United took the correct stance – even though it was frustrating for fans alike at first.

Just look at where the players are now, less than a few months after they left United. Paul Pogba has done the best out of the lot by landing a move to Juventus, and although he has featured for the first team occasionally, he’s stuck in the same boat as before. Ravel Morrison made little effect on West Ham’s bid for promotion at the end of last season and is now on loan at Birmingham in the Championship while his parent club tackle the Premier League. Zeki Fryers? Well Zeki’s currently in Belgium having discussions with Standard Liege.

It’s hard to have solid proof of young players’ motivation but the one thing that remains evidently obvious is that staying at United remains the best thing for youngsters who have come through the ranks. Money may play a part but ultimately, as we’ve seen with Danny Webeck and to a certain extent Tom Cleverley, if you put the effort and the hard work in then the money will come. Paul Pogba may well be en exception, but something’s been dodgy about the whole situation with Pogba since question marks were raised about how we actually signed him.

In the grand scheme of things though, you can’t help but think, especially for Zeki and maybe even Ravel – that a few months down the line they wish they’d cherished their time at United and prolonged it, using what ever means, for as long as possible.