The all-time Premier League top scorer is full of admiration for Manchester United’s 19-year-old starlet, with the former Newcastle legend raving about the winger on The Rest Is Football podcast.
Lacey was a catalyst in United’s 3-2 comeback against Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday, coming off the bench to assist Matheus Cunha’s winner in sublime fashion, cutting the entire defence in just one pass.
It has led fans and pundits to question the role of Amad Diallo, who has been looking dangerous in recent weeks, but has been unable to perform in front of goal, with the last time his shot hit the net being 15 December of last year, when Manchester United drew 4-4 with Bournemouth.
Not only that, but since Michael Carrick took the reins of United in January, Amad has managed just two assists, one on the last day of the season against Brighton, the other for Joshua Zirkzee’s consolation in the 4-1 loss to Como 1907 in October.
Meanwhile, Lacey has already matched Amad’s contributions under Carrick this season alone, opening his United account in a 3-2 loss to Brighton, before he assisted Cunha’s winner that has been previously mentioned.
Shearer believes Lacey has done enough to warrant a start
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Alan Shearer was extremely impressed by Lacey’s cameo against Roma, talking about how he injected excitement into the game.
“And his [Carrick] changes, by the way, Shea Lacey.
“He came on, did really well, went past players, bit of excitement, got the going a little bit, it’s just those little things, there was no energy, there was no excitement whatsoever in that first half.”
Shearer then went on to say that: “And then Lacey, he did more in that [cameo] when he came on than lots of players have done for a while, you know. So, I don’t know whether there’s a shout for him to start, you know.”
And the former Premier League striker is not the only person to be backing Lacey to start, with TalkSport presenter Andy Goldstein reportedly hearing from his source that Lacey could be starting this weekend.
“I’ve heard, by the way, and it’s from the same person who told me that Bruno Fernandes was going to be dropped, has told me that Shea Lacey starts against Villa,” Goldstein said on TalkSport. “How about that?
Sunday’s match against Aston Villa could be a sliding-door moment for Carrick. Lose, and the potential of sacking goes up tenfold; a win against an in-form team could show that United are in a state of rebuild, with time to progress over the international break.
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