Sir Alex Ferguson famously refused to let the media speak to Ryan Giggs in his formative years. Only after the Scot retired did United fully embrace social media platforms.
Now, it is a daily part of life for most young players. Almost all have their own accounts, upload posts after games and like those of their team-mates. JJ Gabriel, the 15-year-old star of United’s Under-18 side, has 442,000 followers on Instagram.
Torpey feels prescriptive rules about how to use social media are pointless. Instead, he prefers to offer advice and guidance.
“It’s not for us to create robots,” he said. “It’s for us to allow individuals to flourish and therefore express themselves in a way they want. We’ve got to look at players as humans, not just a cohort or an age group.
“As much as it’s our job to protect these young people, we’ve got to find the line where we don’t become parents. Our duty is to support parents where they need it.
“As they progress through the club, it becomes a bit different because they’re professional players and then they’re coming to work for a living but I see things happening for eight and nine year olds now, where it’s almost like if he doesn’t have an Instagram account, he’s no good, and if he doesn’t put a baller or flames emoji, he’s obviously not a talented seven year old.
“We can see through that because we don’t know at that point. We might be impressed by little moments of magic but there’s a long way to go. It’s unnecessary pressure in my opinion.”
A number of players within United’s academy are rated highly.
Shea Lacey caught the eye when he made his senior debut in December and is just returning from injury. Both Fletcher twins, Jack and Tyler, have also made their first-team bows in recent weeks.
Below that, defender Dan Armer and midfielder Jim Thwaites have flitted between the under-18s and under-21s, as has Bendito Mantato, who was part of England’s Under-17 World Cup squad earlier in the campaign.
Then there is Gabriel. Top scorer across the Under 18 leagues with 18 goals, he has scored 10 in his last eight games and has attracted attention from all of Europe’s top clubs.
There is a concern internally about how easily he can adapt to a higher level given his small size, which is why he was not drafted into the squad for the FA Cup third round tie at Brighton – he is not allowed to play Premier League because he was 14 in the current school year.
Nevertheless, it is impossible not to get excited by his promise.
“I get the question and I understand it,” Torpey said. “But I’ve got to be careful not to put unnecessary pressure on anyone from the academy. We have some special talent in our groups right now.
“When you look at those types of players they give you these moments of magic and these bits that get you off your seat, JJ is one of those for sure.
“I’m looking for those standout moments and the player you named (Gabriel) is showing those things. But we’ve also got to make sure he’s doing the responsible non-negotiable parts of the game.
“The whole club’s excited by the talent we’re seeing right now. But it is easier to spoil talent than it is to help it to flourish and we’ve got to handle it with care.”
