Former Manchester United winger Ben Thornley believes Anthony Elanga is playing his way into first team reckoning during preseason.

Thornley can see Elanga establishing himself as a left-wing option for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

He told the club's website: "He could be a candidate for the left-hand side. He's definitely laid down a marker, that's for sure. We were talking about Mason [Greenwood], Paul Pogba and Dan [James] but, if he keeps performing like that, it will be hard for the manager to ignore, especially if he does play and scores goals. That's priceless.

“I just think he's a lad who has come through the Under-23s, when we watched him last season. He's got explosive pace, always wants to play on the shoulder and can play either side as well as through the middle. If he gets away, you're never going to catch him. He's got great feet and is brave; you saw that with the goal he scored at Wolves with his head.

“There is going to be a lot of talk among the coaching staff about which players are part of the squad, maybe go on loan or are not going to be here come the end of August. He's one that caught my eye massively last season as well and he seems a very level-headed young man. If he keeps it up, he can be a huge part of Ole's plans this season and rightly so, so far."