Where are they now? The 15 Man Utd kids handed debuts by Louis van Gaal

Louis Van Gaal’s two years in charge of Manchester United may not be too fondly remembered, but it was a great time for members of the club’s academy.

United finished fourth and fifth in Van Gaal’s two seasons at Old Trafford, also winning the FA Cup in his final game in charge in 2016.

We’ve looked at the 15 academy players he handed debuts to, to see how their respective careers have developed since.

Van Gaal’s two years in charge of Manchester United, and the subsequent ups and downs, can be neatly illustrated by Lingard.

After the attacker had spent time on loan at Leicester, Birmingham and Brighton, Van Gaal entrusted him with a start in his first competitive match in charge of United.

But Lingard had to be replaced due to injury after just 24 minutes of a defeat against Swansea and by the time he returned to fitness, he was sent out on loan yet again, this time to Derby.

The following season marked Lingard’s breakthrough at Old Trafford, and he ended the campaign scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, which turned out to be Van Gaal’s last in charge of the club.

After making himself a favourite under Jose Mourinho, Lingard fell out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before rediscovering his best form on loan at West Ham under David Moyes.

The one-time England international returned to Old Trafford but left for a disappointing spell at Nottingham Forest in 2022.

Lingard now plays out in South Korea for FC Seoul.

Rashford was thrown in for a Europa League tie with Midtjylland after Anthony Martial suffered an injury in the warm-up and stole the headlines with two goals.

Three days later, the teenager scored twice against Arsenal and also bagged the winner in the Manchester derby later that season.

Despite looking destined to leave the club after falling out with Ruben Amorim, spending the last six months on loan at Aston Villa, Rashford’s 138 goals for United make him by far the most successful member of this list.

The first player signed by David Moyes, Varela had to bide his time to break into the United side, making 11 appearances in Van Gaal’s final season in charge.

Sensing his time at the club had come to an end, he re-joined boyhood club Penarol in 2017. He went onto spend two years back in his native country before returning to Europe in 2019.

After enjoying stints with FC Copenhagen and Dynamo Moscow, Varela has since returned to South America and now plays for Brazilian outfit Flamengo.

Playing alongside the likes of David Luiz and Gabriel Barbosa, Varela seems to be enjoying life in Brazil right now.

An injury crisis in defence presented McNair with an opportunity in the Red Devils’ starting XI, but he endured a love/hate relationship with Van Gaal.

At one stage Van Gaal suggested McNair could be United’s right-back for the “next 10 years”, but he later criticised the Northern Irishman as “he thought he was a striker” when he gave the ball away high up the pitch in a draw with Leicester.

McNair was swiftly sold to Sunderland in the summer of 2016 after Van Gaal was succeeded by Jose Mourinho.

The Black Cats were relegated that season and were relegated again the following season, when McNair left to join Middlesbrough. He’s carved out a fine career over the years, being named their Player of the Year for 2020-21 and being capped 73 times for Northern Ireland.

McNair spent the second half of 2024-25 on loan at West Brom, before returning to San Diego FC in the MLS.

Janko’s solitary appearance under Van Gaal was an unhappy one as he was subbed off at half-time in a 4-0 loss at MK Dons in the League Cup.

After short spells in France, Portugal, Spain and Germany, the defender is now back in his home country of Switzerland and is playing for Young Boys.

Like Janko, Thorpe made just one appearance for United, coming on as a 94th-minute substitute in a win against West Ham.

The defender then dropped into the Football League with spells at Birmingham, Rotherham, Bradford and Bolton.

He took a long break from football after leaving Indian side ATK in 2018 for mental health reasons, but is now playing for Stalybridge Celtic in the Northern Premier League Division One West.

Not that one.

The younger brother of Leicester City midfielder Matty, James’ only United first-team experience came in the infamous 4-0 thrashing at MK Dons.

After loan moves to Carlisle, Rotherham and Huddersfield, the defender eventually found a home at Wigan, but he was released after three years at the club.

He then had brief stints at Sunderland, Doncaster Rovers and Blackpool before signing for Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan deal in 2022.

After helping the Owls win promotion to the Championship and stay up in their first season, James left for fellow South Yorkshire outfit Rotherham United in 2024.

Blackett was one of Van Gaal’s favoured options during the injury crisis, making 12 appearances in 2014-15 and being tipped to become a “great defender” after signing a new deal in 2015.

But a loan spell at Celtic proved unproductive the following season and Blackett was then sold to Reading, where he made over 100 appearances before leaving the club in 2020.

He spent the 2020-21 season at Nottingham Forest before moving to America, joining MLS side FC Cincinnati for two seasons.

The defender now plays for League One Rotherham United.

QUIZ: Can you name every player Louis van Gaal used as Man Utd manager?

After Van Gaal’s departure, Pereira had loan spells at Grenada and Valencia in La Liga before returning to Old Trafford in 2018

The attacking midfielder initially impressed under Solskjaer but lost his place in the team to Bruno Fernandes and became a much-maligned figure at Old Trafford.

Following several loan spells, the Brazilian playmaker made a permanent exit in 2022 to join Fulham.

From Pereira’s perspective, the switch to Craven Cottage was a wise decision. Marco Silva has got the best out of him and he seems to be enjoying his football more than ever in an attacking side.

Love’s record as a United player does not make for happy reading: two appearances, two defeats, one booking, one admittedly very good name.

David Moyes took the defender to Sunderland, but he struggled to establish himself at the Stadium of Light as the Black Cats suffered back-to-back relegations.

He has subsequently spent time at Shrewsbury, Salford and Morecambe before joining current club, Accrington Stanley, in 2024.

Poole made his only appearance for United as a late substitute in the big victory over Midtjylland which marked Marcus Rashford’s breakthrough.

The defender has revealed the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Rashford took him under their wing at the club, telling the BBC: “They know it takes time. I get a bit ahead of myself sometimes and they tell me ‘take your time’ and ‘slow down.'”

After being released by the club in 2019, Poole signed for Milton Keynes Dons on a free transfer, where he stayed for 18 months before joining League One side Lincoln City in January 2021.

Poole now plays in the Championship for Portsmouth and has also made one appearance for Wales.

After making 14 first-team appearances in 2015-16, Borthwick-Jackson was rewarded with a new long-term contract, but the left-back’s career has stalled since then.

Loan spells at Wolves and Leeds United were both terminated early amid questions about his attitude, and he joined Oldham Athletic on loan in January 2020.

After his United contract expired at the end of the 2019-20 season, he returned to Oldham on a permanent deal but joined Burton Albion a year later.

He has more recently played in Scotland and Poland, but the 28-year-old is currently unattached.

Weir was handed his senior debut by Louis van Gaal in 2016, coming on as an injury-time substitute for Ander Herrera against Arsenal.

That proved to be his only senior appearance for United before he left the club that summer to join Hull City.

After struggling to nail down a consistent starting spot in England, Weir had stints in Slovakia and Hungary before he ultimately retired at the age of 27.

Following his journeyed career, he now works as a travel agent.

“I can still play football at some level, but playing at a professional level day in and day out, my body didn’t have that,” Weir told The Guardian last year.

“It was not worth the sacrifice of living away any more. I thought I needed to cut the cord early and move on to something else.”

READ: The story of James Weir and his 60-second Manchester United career

The further we go through this, the more the extent of injuries Van Gaal had to cope with becomes apparent. Riley started the 5-1 win over Midtjylland, with his only other appearance for United coming as a substitute against Shrewsbury just a few days before.

He now plays for AFC Fylde in the National League.

The hype around Fosu-Mensah was real and for a short while it looked justified after he broke through under Louis van Gaal.

A series of unfortunate loans to Crystal Palace and Fulham didn’t quite go his way, tearing his cruciate ligament at the latter, and after a few more appearances for United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he joined Bayer Leverkusen in January 2021, but again suffered another cruciate ligament injury.

The versatile Dutchman, now 27, is currently a free agent having not played a single minute of football in 2023-24 before leaving the German champions.