Watch: Man Utd wonderkid Bendito Mantato scores wonderfully well-taken goal against Liverpool U18s | OneFootball

Manchester United starlet Bendito Mantato offered another reminder of why he’s one of the most highly-rated prospects in the club’s academy with a fantastically well-taken effort against Liverpool’s Under-18s.

Mantato doesn’t turn 18 until January but he’s been on our radar for a while. We’ve been hyping up the Red Devils’ latest prodigy for well over a year now.

And on this evidence, it surely can’t be too long before he’s knocking on the door for a promotion to Ruben Amorim’s first team.

The right winger has long been pushing for his senior debut, having trained with the senior squad. He was named on the bench for both legs of last season’s Europa League semi-final victory over Athletic Club, but he’s yet to make their Premier League squad.

In May, he committed his future at Old Trafford through to 2029, having signed his first professional contract with a lengthy four-year deal.

Given the injury issues in United’s first team, their goalscoring woes exacerbated in their recent home defeat to 10-man Everton, you wonder if they might soon to a rising star who’s scored hatfuls at various youth levels, representing England as an Under-18.

Mantato opened the scoring after just seven minutes as Darren Fletcher’s Under-18s took on old foes Liverpool, with two goals in as many games since returning from the Under-17 World Cup with the Young Lions.

He timed his run superbly and carried the ball an impressive distance, keeping his composure to cut inside, demonstrating his excellent close control to evade challenges before lashing home.

A short while later, he could have had an assist, this time displaying an unselfish nature to tee up Noah Ajayi, who failed to round the goalkeeper and finish off the presentable chance he’d created.