Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown hopes one Rangers star he saw come through at the Old Trafford giants can reach his potential playing for Gers.
Brown played 362 times under former Rangers forward Sir Alex Ferguson at United between 1996 and 2011 after graduating from the club’s famed academy set-up which was at its height in the 1990s.
The ex-central defender, who could also operate as a right-back, won five Premier League titles with United and two Champions League crowns before moving to Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers and Kerala Blasters.
Brown came through the ranks at United’s old training ground The Cliff as a kid and rubbed shoulders with senior players such as Eric Cantona and David Beckham on the way to the first-team.
Fast forward into the 21st century and a fresh-faced current Rangers midfielder was also working his way up through the age groups at United, playing for the U17s, U18s and the reserve side.
He would eventually struggle for game time for the United reserves between 2012 and 2014 but was handed his dream of making his first-team debut for the club under interim manager Ryan Giggs.
That young man was Tom Lawrence and Brown, as quoted in The Rangers Review, was quizzed on the Welshman’s time at United and his thoughts on how he has developed his career after leaving his boyhood club.
The former England star explained how despite not being able to make a mark in the Man United senior squad, Lawrence was talented enough to go on and have a good career.
Brown said this can be linked with how the likes of Phil Bardsley and Kieran Richardson came through at United but again, wouldn’t have too much of a lasting impact at Old Trafford.
However, they still had the talent to play at a high level and Brown is encouraged with Lawrence’s move to Rangers where he is playing Europa League football and challenging for trophies regularly.
Wes Brown on ‘exciting’ Tom Lawrence
Brown, who has been promoting United’s friendly match with Rangers this summer, recollected: “Tom was in the youth team. I watched him in their games.
“At that time, it was good coming through the youth team because you were playing alongside really good players.
“We have had quite a lot of youth come through. But they haven’t necessarily gone on to make it at Man United. The problem was the first team was good.
“Phil Bardsley, Kieran Richardson, Jonathan Greening and Danny Welbeck all played a good few times for Man United.
“For whatever reason, the manager thought they weren’t quite there. But they went on and had really good careers. I always think that comes from being grounded.
“We all know what Tom can do. He’s an exciting player. He could probably be more consistent, but ultimately you can see the talent is there.
“He loves football. He did a good job at Derby in difficult circumstances.
“He’s 30 now and you get to a certain point where you want to challenge yourself a little bit and maybe that was his rethinking in coming to Scotland.
“It’s a little bit different for him and a chance to compete in Europe and for prizes, which will have been important because he does have the ability.
“He’s a grown man now and he wants to get back to a team that has the right qualities, playing in Europe, taking on some of the best teams abroad where the standard is higher.
“I’ve seen it many times and when you play at a higher standard, you up your own levels and hopefully that’s what happens for Tom.”
