5 Manchester United youth players who never fulfilled their potential

Manchester United have always had a proud tradition of bringing through youth team players into the first team. In the past, players like Bobby Charlton and George Best rose up through the ranks to become some of the best players in the world.

More recently, the so-called 'Class of 92' (Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt) were a group of academy products who eventually led United to a treble and to become the best side in the world. Youngsters such as Johnny Evans and Rafael have also made significant contributions.

However, inevitably not every youth player is successful at Manchester United. Whilst some youngsters who have left the club in search of first team action have forged notable careers elsewhere- i.e. Ryan Shawcross (Stoke) and Danny Drinkwater (Leicester, Chelsea), there have been many others who have really struggled since being shown the Old Trafford exit door.

This article describes 5 of the most notable Manchester United youth products who failed to fulfil their potential.

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#1 Darren Gibson

The Northern Irish midfielder was once a very highly rated prospect at Utd. He had a knack for scoring spectacular goals, but a lack of pace and creativity let him down.

Nevertheless, had he stayed at United a little longer, he might have had a chance of breaking through since Scholes was coming to the end of his career.

Gibson has had a mixed career since leaving United for Everton in 2012. Injuries disrupted his progress there and he never really got going at the Toffees, despite some sporadically impressive performances.

Gibson eventually transferred to Sunderland but even then he couldn't command a regular first team-berth and his story is certainly one of unfulfilled potential.

#2 Ravel Morrison

Morrison's temperament hampered his chances of success

Ravel Morrison was viewed as a very exciting prospect when he broke through into the United first team in 2010, but since then things have sadly gone downhill for the player. The talented midfielder was fast, athletic and could find the back of the net regularly.

Ironically, he broke through at the same time as Paul Pogba, although the two players' careers have gone in very different directions since they both left United.

Whilst Pogba has become a world-class player (though he still divides opinion), Morrison spent years stuck on the fringes of the West Ham side, and was farmed out on loan to QPR.

He has never quite fulfilled his early promise, with his lack of maturity evident, given his skirmishes with the law on more than one occasion - first for drunken behaviour and also for some other incidents in Manchester City Centre. Amazingly Morrison is still only 25, which is still quite young in footballing terms, so there is hope for him yet.

#3 Kieran Richardson

Despite some good moments Richardson never really succeeded at Utd

It's always going to be hard when you are trying to force your way into the United first team at the same time as Cristiano Ronaldo, but Richardson had plenty of talent, equally capable of playing in midfield and defence.

However, despite this versatility, things never really worked out for him at United, although he was still a valuable squad member for a few years without ever getting a sustained run in the first team.

Richardson also developed something of a reputation for being more focused on his possessions than his actual football, and after a number of loan spells, he moved to Sunderland in 2007.

In his 5 years there, he drifted in and out of the first team whilst Sunderland battled relegation. A similar trend followed following moves to Fulham and Aston Villa.

#4 Fabio

Fabio was always in the shadow of his twin Rafael at United

The least successful of the 'samba twins' at United (Rafael being his more eminent sibling), Fabio's United career never really got going, despite early hopes that both siblings would live up to their wonder-kid labels and be the new Neville brothers for United.

He was never a regular for the reds, although he did start for the club in a Champions League final against Barcelona in 2011.

Fabio was sometimes too eager in the tackle and got sent off on numerous occasions, which is possibly the reason for his lack of progression at United.

He eventually left for Cardiff where even there he failed to get regular action through his career has revived since moving to Middlesbrough.

#5 Danny Welbeck

Despite some good attributes, Welbeck lacked confidence in front of goal

Welbeck is arguably the player on this list who contributed the most in a United shirt. The local lad was excellent in spells, particularly when partnered with Wayne Rooney in 2011/12. He was also one of the better performers in David Moyes' season at the club. Despite this, you could never really rely on Welbeck for goals or his fitness.

Too often he was inconsistent or failed to find the back of the net (managing only handful goals in the 2012/13 season, though one was against Real Madrid).

He seemed to lack the true ruthlessness that all great strikers possess. He was deemed surplus to requirements by Louis Van Gaal in 2014 and joined Arsenal.

Since then, it's been more of the same; looking good when he has played but still not being fit often enough.