Published: 09:11, 3 April 2026 | Updated: 09:11, 3 April 2026

Manchester United Under-21s boss Adam Lawrence joked he will have to 'try and sweet talk' Michael Carrick into letting him play Shea Lacey now that the 18-year-old is permanently with the first team.

Lacey broke into the first team under Ruben Amorim and while the routine for academy players trying to bridge the gap is to oscillate between working with the seniors as well as the Under-21s, that is no longer the case for Lacey.

'So, day to day, Shea will train with the first team, basically follow their programme and then obviously be topped up with Under 21 games when he needs to be playing,' Lawrence explained.

United's Under-21s play on Friday afternoon away to Leeds United before hosting Real Madrid at Old Trafford on Tuesday night in the quarter-finals of the Premier League International Cup.

But with Lacey only just returning from a period out through injury, coupled with the demands of the first team in the run-in, it remains to be seen just how much academy football, if any, Lacey...