I’ll always remember the first, though, and Axel Tuanzebe was a genuine pleasure to speak to – insightful and intelligent, the defender belied his young age and was, I felt at the time, a potential United captain of the future.
A few weeks earlier, the DR Congo-born Rochdalian had led United out of the tunnel for a Carabao Cup clash with his hometown club, becoming our youngest skipper since Norman Whiteside in the 1980s.
Leadership seemed to be something that came naturally to Axel, even at 21.
“I think growing up, a lot of the lads looked up to me,” he said. “I always wanted to do what was right, I think that’s kind of been with me all my life.”
Having been slowly introduced to the senior set-up by Jose Mourinho, our 2015 Young Player of the Year looked set to make the next step and establish himself in the side at the start of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first full term in the dugout.
It seemed inevitable for a classy player who was strong, quick, technically gifted and could play across the backline.
