Manchester United will not be going to Wembley this season, but at least they will be represented by two of their homegrown players after Marcus Rashford and Anthony Elanga helped Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, respectively, reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. And while United were having the weekend off due to being knocked out of the competition by Fulham in the fifth round, Antony continued his excellent loan spell with Real Betis, helping them to a long-awaited win over arch-rivals Sevilla.
United's unwanted wingers come to mind as they head to Forest on Tuesday, worlds apart from when they visited the City Ground in April 2023. That was the day Antony ended a long goal drought by inspiring the Red Devils to a 2-0 win which lifted them to third in the Premier League and left Forest on the brink of the relegation zone. Rashford was out injured that day, but he was in the midst of his most prolific season ever, on his way to scoring 30 goals. Elanga, meanwhile, was an unused substitute, with Jadon Sancho starting ahead of him.
Fast-forward two years and Forest are third in the league and closing in on Champions League qualification, while United are all the way down in 13th. Relegation might not be a threat any more, but there's no escaping that this has been a harrowing campaign for everyone involved.
The embarrassment of riches that United had when it came to exciting wingers has also been eroded, but their loss has been to the advantage of other clubs. Sancho, admittedly, has not made much progress on loan at Chelsea despite a positive start, but everyone else is thriving away from Old Trafford. Elanga is tearing it up with Forest, while Rashford and Antony have revitalised their flagging careers during their respective loan spells.
Given all these recent precedents, United need to tread very carefully with one of the few remaining exciting wingers they have left: Alejandro Garnacho.
