New Manchester United academy boss Stephen Torpey outlines his vision

Sir Alex Ferguson famously refused to allow the media to speak to Ryan Giggs in his formative years. It was only after the Scot’s retirement that United fully embraced social media platforms.

Now, this has become a daily part of most young players’ lives. Almost all of them have their own accounts, upload posts after matches and like their teammates’ posts. JJ Gabriel, the 15-year-old United Under-18 star, has 442,000 followers on Instagram.

Torpey feels that guidelines on how to use social media are meaningless. Instead, he prefers to provide advice and guidance.

“We don’t have the right to make robots,” he said. “For us it is about allowing individuals to flourish and thus express themselves the way they want. We have to look at players as human beings, not just a group or age group.

“As much as it is our job to protect these young people, we have to find the point where we don’t become parents. Our duty is to support parents where they need it.

“As they progress through the club, it’s a bit different because they’re professional players and then they come to work for a living, but I see things happening to eight- and nine-year-olds now, where it’s almost like if he doesn’t have an Instagram account, he’s not that good, and if he doesn’t put up a ball or flame emoji, he’s clearly not a talented seven-year-old.

“We can see it because we don’t know at that point. We may be dazzled by small moments of magic but there’s still a long way to go. It’s unnecessary pressure in my opinion.”

A number of players within United’s academy are highly rated.

Shea Lacy caught the eye when he made his debut in December and was just coming back from injury. Both Fletcher twins, Jack and Tyler, have also made their moves for the first team in recent weeks.

Under that, defender Dan Armer and midfielder Jim Thwaites moved between the Under-18s and Under-21s, as did Benedetto Mantatu, who was part of England’s Under-17 World Cup squad earlier in the season.

Then there is Gabriel. Top scorer in the Under-18 leagues with 18 goals, he has scored 10 goals in his last eight matches and attracted the attention of all major European clubs.

There is concern internally about how easily he will adapt to a higher level given his small size, which is why he was not included in the squad for the FA Cup third round match at Brighton – he is not allowed to play in the Premier League as he would have been 14 in the current school year.

However, it is impossible not to get excited about its promise.

“I get the question and I understand it,” Torpey said. “But I have to be careful not to put unnecessary pressure on anyone from the academy. We have some special talents in our groups now.

“When you look at those types of players, they give you these moments of magic and these parts that take you out of your seat, JJ is definitely one of those.

“I’m looking for those special moments and the player you mentioned (Gabriel) shows those things. But we also have to make sure he does the responsible, non-negotiable parts of the game.

“The whole club is excited about the talent we are seeing now. But it is easier to spoil talent than to help it flourish and we have to handle it carefully.”