29 January 2024 , 09:40
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It has been a common occurence to hear Manchester United's character questioned over the last decade.
'Where are the leaders?' has been a regular refrain of recent seasons and even in Erik ten Hag's relatively successful first term there was conflict. The Dutchman had to deal with the aftermath of Cristiano Ronaldo's power struggle that ultimately led to his departure and saw Bruno Fernandes become captain as Harry Maguire lost out.
While characters have often been questioned outside of Old Trafford, the Red Devils have had some unsuspecting leaders within their ranks too. Though, perhaps an academy product with 37 appearances who had not featured for the club since 2020/21 is not the place to look.
Former United captain Maguire was enthused by the impression that Axel Tuanzebe made on the squad, however. The defender's opportunities were sporadic following his debut versus Wigan in 2017 as he spent much of his senior career with the club on loan at Aston Villa.
The academy product experienced 18 months at Villa Park before returning to United for 2019/20 to sign a new contract. That season saw him become the club's youngest captain since Norman Whiteside when he wore the armband versus Rochdale.
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"We have a lot of leaders in the dressing room, a lot of senior pros,” Maguire said in 2021. “And you don’t have to be a senior pro to be a leader. Axel is a leader, in the ways that he works and speaks in the dressing room.
“And he’s only a young boy, he’s still learning his trade. I’m sure he’ll go on to have an unbelievable career."
Axel Tuanzebe (Ash Donelon/Manchester United)Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had already made a similar endorsement of the youngster. The Norwegian coach had every faith in his charge.
"Axel is a captain in the making, he's a leader. Why not give it to young kids?" Solskjaer told Talksport in 2020. "How does he handle it? He was absolutely fine, he enjoyed it. It’s just a way of telling him that we trust him."
Tuanzebe was unable to truly break into the United side in his two seasons with the first team squad and 2021/22 saw him split the season between Aston Villa and Napoli. Injury disrupted the central defender's progress and there was little time to impress Ten Hag following the former Dutch coach's arrival..
Eventually Tuanzebe was sent to Stoke City on loan to end his United career, but a struggle for fitness blighted his time there. However, Ipswich Town and former Manchester United coach Kieran McKenna were willing to hand the 26-year-old an opportunity on a one-year deal.
The Tractor Boys' boss McKenna said: "We want to build him up in a sensible way and get him back to his best condition. If we do that, we feel we could have a very valuable asset for the team."
Ipswich Town's Axel Tuanzebe (left) and Maidstone United's Lamar Reynolds battle for the ball (PA)Things have not completely panned out at Portman Road just yet, however. Tuanzebe has made just six Championship appearances and nine in all competitions. Four of those have come in January.
But they have not all gone smoothly with the centre-back completing 90 minutes in Ipswich's shock FA Cup defeat to sixth-tier minnows Maidstone United. He will hope to have a bigger influence on the club's promotion push.