Who is Shea Lacey? Manchester United’s Next Wonderkid

Shea Lacey is one of the most promising young players in the Manchester United academy but who is he?

PROFILE

Lacey is 17 years old, English, left footed and signed his first professional contract at Manchester United in April. Lacey agreed to a five year deal, keeping him at the club until 2029.

- Age: 17

- Nationality: English

- Foot: Left

- Height: 5 ft 9”

- Contract Expiry: 2029

Lacey is from Liverpool but is a Manchester United fan in a family full of Liverpool fans due to playing for the Red Devils from such a young age. 

He has been on a fast upward trajectory in the United academy having been promoted to the U18s team at 15 years old, producing scintillating performances and showing real maturity in his play.

STYLE OF PLAY

Lacey has incredibly good close control and superb dribbling. He has a low centre of gravity helping him effortlessly beat defenders either with quick changes of direction, step-overs, drops of the shoulder and feints.

Whilst possessing a small frame, he is surprisingly strong in contact situations and has great ball carrying ability. He can carry at pace, has excellent acceleration and balance. 

His creativity is his strongest attribute. He can play line breaking passes and through balls for the attackers at ease. Lacey’s passes are often perfectly weighted and he seems so natural at creating chances in the final third. He can exploit defensive weaknesses quickly, stacking up plenty of assists due to the high volume of opportunities he creates for his teammates. Shea’s decision making is incredibly intelligent and mature for someone so young!

Technically he is superb and is excellent at navigating tight spaces including finding pockets to both receive and progress the ball. His quick footwork can stifle defenders and has the confidence's to beat his man in any situation. 

His ball striking is of a very high level for his age. He can either accurately place his shots or he can shoot with real power, bend and curl on the ball. Lacey is a threat from set pieces or from open play and is regularly on corner and free kick duty for the youth teams. Since he is often deployed on the right, similar to many left footed right wingers, he likes to cut inside to find space, get a yard on his opponent and shoot on goal. The youngster is also very composed in one on one situations when it comes to finishing. 

His link up play with other attackers is very solid and Lacey has the vision to spot timed runs and play the ball into space for forwards to run onto.

Lacey can be deployed either at right wing or as an attacking midfielder and has superb play making qualities which allow him to be super creative for the team. Lacey works best when given a ‘free role’ to create and find space. His ability to manipulate the ball and beat players with ease shows confidence beyond his years. Lacey quite simply plays with real flair which is exciting to watch! 

The young prospect works hard out of possession and a bonus of Lacey’s play is that he doesn’t neglect his defensive duties and tracks back, always supporting his full back in the wide areas.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT 

Some weaknesses in Lacey’s game might be that whilst he does show good strength for his size, he will likely need to develop this further for when he fully integrates to the first team.  So this may not necessarily be a weakness but simply a natural stage in his development. Lacey does also have a tendency to have an over reliance on his stronger left foot, opting to not use his right as much as he should. This will be something he will focus on in training and I have no doubt will become much stronger with his right foot. 

CONCLUSION

Overall, Lacey has such good technical qualities and composure on the ball. He can finish ruthlessly and his decision making for someone so young is impressive. His playing style has been likened to that of Phil Foden, given his dribbling ability, close control and body movements on the ball. Lacey has already been training with the United first team however he unfortunately picked up an injury not long after signing his new contract.

Lacey would undoubtedly have been involved in this summer’s preseason if it wasn’t for his injury setback however he is now on the road to recovery so we may see a lot more of him very soon.

Carrington has spawned yet another exciting young talent and many fans feel the upcoming season could see Lacey make his full debut for Manchester United