Revealed: The three Man United stars who have been ‘invaluable’ to helping Harry Amass integrate into the first -team

When Ruben Amorim came to name his starters in the team hotel on Friday night, there was little surprise among the players to see 18-year-old Harry Amass’ name up on the board.

Amass wasn’t told in advance, nor did Amorim pull him aside for a private conversation to tee up his first ever start in the Premier League. No, Amass was treated just like the rest of the dressing room. It was a sign to insiders of just how well he has done to become part of the furniture.

Team-mates felt Amass’ full Premier League debut was coming too.

Mail Sport understands that Diogo Dalot held a long debrief with Amass after one training session last week to talk through his game and share tidbits of information given he plays the same wing-back role.

Harry Maguire too, a former captain and a key figure in the United dressing room, pulled Amass aside for a chat a few days ago to tell him the squad felt he was closing in on his first start. His hard work was not going under the radar.

Mason Mount is another to have a particularly good relationship with Amass, not least with both of them originally from London. As one source put it, those three senior players have been ‘invaluable’ to Amass’ dressing room integration in recent months.

Amass was treated like any of Ruben Amorim’s other senior players before Sunday’s game

The defender was given 55 minutes to become the club’s fourth-youngest player to start a Premier League match

Sunday’s outing at Newcastle, where he got 55 minutes to become the fourth youngest player in club history to start a Premier League game, only behind Mason Greenwood, Federico Macheda, and Phil Neville, was a positive, too. He more than held his own in a daunting match-up against Jacob Murphy, one of the division’s form players right now.

But this has not been a journey to his first Premier League start without bumps in the road.

The last few months have been challenging for Amass having had to work his way into the plans of a new head coach in Amorim, who initially drafted another academy defender in Godwill Kukonki into his early training sessions.

Amass had been a regular in Erik ten Hag’s sessions and was taken on the US pre-season tour where he shone amid a period of great uncertainty at management level.

He looked to be closing in on playing, only for the Dutch manager to hold too many doubts over his physicality to actually hand him his debut before he was axed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the United hierarchy in October.

Many in Amass’ inner circle were convinced he would have played in the Community Shield at the start of the campaign, only to get overlooked entirely as he missed out on the bench. 

His name never even appeared on the back of the matchday programme. Having seen his entire extended family travel to that game, it represented a real setback.

There were fears among some that this season may mirror the last where Amass would be able to break into first team training but not the team, a frustrating halfway-house for a young player.

The youngster had to work his way into Amorim’s plans after initially drafting Godwill Kukonki (pictured) into his first team squad

One thing that has impressed insiders at United most impressed with Amass is his resilience

His family, mum and grandad in particular, regularly make trips north to watch him and they did so numerous times late last year when he was oscillating between the Under-18s and Under-21s. 

After one particular Premier League International Cup game held at Altrincham in January, where he was United’s stand-out player in a 3-1 defeat, there was plenty of encouragement doled out his way from family to trust the process.

Amass is strong-minded, though, and insiders at United have been left so impressed with both his work ethic and his resilience leading up to his league debut away to Leicester and his first league start at Newcastle.

‘He’s worked his socks off in the gym,’ one source said, adding that it’s not been easy for him to add muscle and stay lean at the same time with limited minutes.

‘You can just see the difference from a year ago. He’s worked so hard and the lads have really warmed to him in recent weeks.’

Maturity is a word that came up multiple times when talking to insiders about Amass.

It was a trait that caught the eye of England staff during a recent Under-18s camp where Amass captained the side in a 1-0 win away in Portugal.

‘“Wow” was the reaction of a lot of observers that day,’ one source at that game said. ‘It was just obvious that he’d gone to a new level since the last camp.’

The teenager recently captained the England Under-18s side in a 1-0 win away in Portugal

U18s boss Liam Bramley was so impressed he put in a personal call to United about Amass

Amass impressed FA staff so much on that trip that Under-18s boss Liam Bramley put in a personal call to Manchester United to wax lyrical of Amass’ maturity, leadership and his development. 

His time around experienced players like Maguire and Dalot, among others, has been credited to his growing maturity. As has the responsibility he has had to take on since leaving home to live in Manchester with a handful of other academy stars in digs.

The club routinely put on a variety of life skills workshops, including cooking classes, to prepare academy players for life away from the pitch, where fans do not see the growing pains of navigating life as a young adult.

Elyh Harrison, one of his closest friends in the academy set-up, as well as Chido Obi, are among his housemates and with all three in and around the first team group it has been said that the trio have been a great resource to each other.

‘I’m delighted for Harry, his family and everyone that’s worked with him, including the guys at Watford that worked with him before he came to us,’ academy director Nick Cox told Mail Sport recently.

‘We’ve talked about what an amazing landmark it is [making your debut], but there’s still a long way to go.

‘He’s had to be patient, but I’ve been really impressed with the determination, the resilience and the persistence to keep learning.

‘He’s spent time with the first-team and then back with the youth team. He’s kept working, kept improving and been ready for when the moment comes.’

Many around the training ground were convinced Amass’ debut was not far away 

Stephen Ajewole, a lead scout at Manchester United covering the south of England and the man who scouted Amass at Watford, has been earmarked as a key figure for Amass, as has Under-21 manager Travis Binnion.

Under-18s manager Adam Lawrence is another to have had the chance to help hone Amass’ game in recent seasons and it was away to Arsenal in a recent FA Youth Cup quarter-final where you saw the level of trust Lawrence had in Amass to help guide the group over the line as they squeezed out a win in extra-time.

So, when the decision was made that Amass would not be allowed to feature in the Youth Cup semi-final against Aston Villa due to being needed on the bench for the first team at Nottingham Forest the following day, there was disappointment.

But among the first team group it was merely a sign of how highly staff rate him. His mentality and his confidence have both endeared him to the dressing room and left a lasting impression on coaches at club and country.

What happens next remains up in the air.

There was the prospect he could have left on loan in January but it was put to Mail Sport that Amass was confident he could fight for his place and break through into the first team by staying. His decision has now been totally vindicated.

Diego Leon, who plays the same left wing-back role, is due to arrive from Paraguay in the summer and United signed 20-year-old Patrick Dorgu for that same position from Lecce as recent as January.

Amass is a ‘cheeky chappy’ personality from a family of very hard working east enders in London and self-belief is not something he has in short supply when it comes to beating out the competition, even now as a teenager at the very start of a senior career in the game.

Though his side were humbled with a 4-1 defeat Amass showed he’s well up for the fight

He said it best last summer – then only 17 – when he was pressed on if he was ready for the bright lights of first team football at a club the size of Manchester United.

‘I think if you’re good enough, you know, then age doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘It’s a big famous quote. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough. So, I think that’s what United stands for. Age doesn’t matter in this game.

‘You’ve just got to show your aggressive side – you might be young, smaller than the opponent but you have to show you are aggressive, and don’t back down.’

In the Lion’s Den that is St James’ Park, Amass showed he’s well up for the fight, just as Amorim and his staff predicted he would be.