Former Manchester United youngster Richie Wellens has sent a stern message to youngsters such as Axel Tuanzebe and Scott McTominay to not rest on their laurels and make the most of their chances at Old Trafford.
Richie Wellens was considered a very talented young player for United during the late 90s and after failing to come good on his promise, he has now expressed his regret upon not having taken his chances with the Red Devils in a recent interview.
Wellens looked back upon his career of what could have been and rued the fact that he was too relaxed while waiting for his chances with the first team.
He told the Manchester Evening News, “I was there during the treble year and I was training every day with those world-class players but I regret not talking to them hugely,
“Everything went well for me and I expected just to go straight into the team. I always felt I had the ability to do well, but my fitness was lacking. I didn’t live my life right. I could have been a lot more professional in terms of what I ate, I was going out too much.
“Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, they had been through what I wanted to go through. Looking back I should have tapped into their experiences both good and bad.”
After failing in his career, Wellens has now urged the current crop of Manchester youngsters such as Axel Tuanzebe and Scott McTominay to not make the same mistakes he did and to learn from his career to further their own.
The ex-Leicester man is still a passionate Manchester United supporter and he had this to say all the United youngsters who are still in the U-23 team, “More than anything, I’d say you need to get to a stage where Under-23s football is OK and that’s all it is.
“Don’t stay at that level for too long. The standard is fine but it’s not what is required in terms of making a professional career. Look at someone like Danny Drinkwater. He struggled in his first and second loan spell but took off at Barnsley and his career went from there.
“When you go out on loan you can gauge whether you can come back and make it at United, which is what the likes of Tuanzebe should be aiming for.”
Footballers certainly live a glamorous life but at the same time, in order to maintain a level of success, the players need to do unglamorous hard work on a regular basis behind the scenes to ensure that they are always growing and ahead of the competition.
Wellens’ story is one of those sad tales of a talented player not fulfilling his potential due to lack of hard work as well as courage to take up challenges, and the likes of Tuanzebe and McTominay should be wary of this fact despite their talent.
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