David Gill: proud of Reds' Academy

Manchester United chief executive David Gill is backing the Reds to continue producing players through the famed Academy at Carrington. Of course, United have a rich history of developing youth products ever since the days of the Busby Babes and the match-going fans enjoy nothing more than seeing homegrown talent getting the chance to impress on the big stage. Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Jonny Evans, Darren Fletcher, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck have all come through the ranks and made an impact on the title challenge this term. "It's been a feature of Manchester United for many years and will continue to be," he told Red View, the club's official newsletter. "We need to be in a position to buy players like David De Gea when we need to buy a goalkeeper or this, that and the other. But, at the same time, we're very fortunate in having a manager and a philosophy that talks about our own players and developing those. "That's crucial, not only obviously for getting into our first team as that's very difficult with our squad but also a number of players have developed great careers in the game having been brought up with United. "That's what we're about and I think our fans want it. It's clear when you go to Old Trafford that they really take to the lads from the Academy. It's very important to us."