Tuanzebe Is United's Young Player Of The Year

Axel Tuanzebe has been named Manchester United's Under-18s Player of the Year for 2014/15 by the coaching staff after an excellent campaign.

The 17-year-old captained Paul McGuinness' side as the Reds reached the play-off stage in the Academy League and earned praise with his powerful and athletic displays at centre-back. In total he made 29 appearances for the Under-18s and also gained a taste of the next level up, the Under-21s, with three outings as a substitute.

Tuanzebe was presented with the Jimmy Murphy trophy at the Player of the Year Awards ceremony at Old Trafford and adds his name to an illustrious roll of honour - previous winners of the award include Danny Welbeck, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and last year's recipient James Wilson.

Speaking on stage at Old Trafford, the delighted young defender said: "It's been a good season for myself. I think I've had a lot of support from all the coaches and staff. A lot of the players were backing me throughout the season because I was captain as well. It's been a great season for all of us really with a small squad. I think we've had to grind through many of the games and I think we've come out well."

Revealing that he first joined United at the age of eight, Tuanzebe added: "It's been a long road and a lot of players have come and gone. I think there are four players from my Under-11s team who are still here now and it's been a great experience."

On wearing the skipper's armband, the centre-back joked: "I enjoy being captain, most definitely, because you get to boss the other players around!"

As for whether he can follow the afore-mentioned previous winners in playing for the first team, Tuanzebe concluded: "Only time will tell. I hope I can continue progressing and hopefully I can get there soon enough."

Tuanzebe's coach, Paul McGuinness, provided a personal review of the young player's impressive campaign. "Axel's led the team superbly throughout the year. At the beginning of the year, you've got to make a choice as captain and that is difficult. You've got to think about what's best for all the players and who will it benefit most. I made a choice I'd not made before - I made a first-year player my captain and the reason I did it was because has outstanding potential as a leader. I thought I'd give him as much practice as he could get. That's what we've done this year and he's not let us down."