Louis van Gaal urges Manchester United academy talent to draw inspiration from Paddy McNair and Tyler Blacket

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has once again insisted on the importance of the Old Trafford academy, promising to give more youngsters a chance to establish themselves in the first-team as he has done already with Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett.

The Ducth boss has been credited during his long career with trusting and fostering new talent.

At Ajax he won a Champions League crown in 1995 with an average age of 23 while during his time at Barcelona he handed debuts to Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez Andres Iniesta, and new United goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

Having been crucial in the development of Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos at Bayern Munich, van Gaal has tried to replicate the same methods since his summer arrival to United, giving first-team chances to a number of youths including Blackett, Mcnair, James Wilson, Tom Thorpe, Jesse Lingard, Reece James, Andreas Pereira, and Will Keane.

Even though the manager failed to start a single player from the Old Trafford academy during the 1-0 defeat against Southampton on Sunday 11 January for the first time this season, van Gaal has promised youngsters more chances are yet to come.

This way the manager has urged the academy stars to take inspiration from the breakthrough of McNair and Blacket to follow the duo's footsteps in the future, ahead of the FA Youth Cup tie between United and Hull City on Tuesday 13 January,

"I hope so, I'm doing that always in every club. It's also to inspire these lads. They are coming to Manchester United to play in the first team and I hope that they have that ambition. Now the moment has come that a lot of youngsters are playing in the first squad," he said to Manchester United official website.

"We have in the Netherlands a structure that the best players have to play against each other so they can develop. When you start in a competition like this (the FA youth Cup), at this age, it's fantastic. You can develop yourself much more than if you play against local teams. I hope that a lot of fans will come to see our future."