Butt: Pogba, Lingard, Rashford 'shining examples' for Utd academy

Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard were in for some stern words from manager Jose Mourinho last week, after he dubbed them (and Luke Shaw) 'Spoilt kids'. 

Mourinho has not been shy in criticising his young stars as of late, as United have made an unimpressive start to the current campaign. 

Nonetheless, academy coach Nicky Butt, a graduate of the famous 'class of 92' from the club's academy, has praised the example that these players are setting for current academy hopefuls. 

Rashford and Lingard have scored three goals and two goals respectively for England this season, having both been integral parts of the 'Three Lions' World Cup semi-final run in the summer. 

Of course, having won the tournament with France, Paul Pogba is the leading light in terms of academy products, having also played in a Champions League final for Italian giants Juventus during his early career. 

Head of Manchester United academy, Nicky Butt, has since come out in support of the players. 

In a chat with 'Sky Sports', Butt said: "They are the shining examples of our academy.They are young boys who came through the ranks here. Marcus and Jesse are local boys who know the area, are United fans and I'm sure their families are as well. We're really proud and privileged to have them playing for us, and playing for their country and doing so well." 

Butt continued: "But we've also got to look for the next ones. We can't just stand still and say 'we have done well, they are going to be in the team for the next five, six, seven years', because it's never a given.We have to keep striving to get the next one - where's the next Jesse, the next Marcus, the next Pogba, when you can bring them in from abroad? That is our challenge as a club, that's our challenge as a scouting department."

As United's head of development, Butt feels like the past year and a half has been a great advert for the academy.

He added: "The last 18 months, it has been amazing for us. We are very happy with our academy. I think we are the biggest and the best one and we don't shout about it enough. We do it our way, and our way has been acknowledged and recognised as the best."

Butt concluded:"At Manchester United we have a real philosophy that we have to try to get some of our young boys in our first team for the manager to play week in, week out and become superstars of the club. That is our ultimate goal. We're also very aware that is very difficult in modern-day football, so we're really proud of the fact we have a really good record of getting a lot of our players playing Premier League football."