When Walsall's Joe Riley rubbed shoulders with Zlatan & Co

It all started when he was introduced as a substitute for fellow academy graduate Cameron Borthwick-Jackson in a 3-0 win at Shrewsbury Town.

His first 45 minutes in a United shirt were in the bag, but a stroke of luck would present him with a night to remember under the lights at Old Trafford four days later.

Chris Smalling had picked up an injury in the build-up to United’s Europa League round of 32 tie against FC Midtjylland, and Riley was elevated into the starting XI in his absence.

“That was many moons ago now. That was a dream come true – I was at Man United from when I was six,” Riley remembers with a proud smile. “Stepping in front of over 70,000 people at Old Trafford was simply incredible.

“That was the best night of my career, and it was amazing for both myself and my family.”

Marcus Rashford stole the headlines that night, and rightly so. He scored two goals and made his first footsteps in a career destined for the top.

Riley rubbed shoulders with world football’s most illustrious names at Carrington. From Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho in the dugout to Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic out on the pitch.

David de Gea, Luke Shaw, Michael Carrick, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku can also be added to that endless list of superstars.

But it was his experience training alongside the charismatic Ibrahimovic, which proved most intriguing, as Riley recalled one particular anecdote.

“Zlatan was someone who had an unbelievable mentality. He actually grabbed me once, and scared me a little bit because I fouled him in training,” he reveals. “But he came up to me after and said, ‘never lose that, no matter who it is, never lose that’. He was very inspirational, and he just made sure that no matter who you are up against, you have to focus on yourself and do everything you can.

“The likes of Zlatan, Rooney and Schweinsteiger. I learned so much from them all and it was good to be around those types of players.”

Riley never played for United again following his week in paradise, and he eventually departed for Bradford City in 2018.

The 27-year-old has since racked up over 200 appearances for Bradford, Carlisle United and Walsall respectively.

And Riley is proud to still be plying his trade in the EFL, after witnessing so many talented players drop out of the professional game together.

“It shows now as I’ve got older, you see the amount of people that have dropped out of the league, even the lads that were around the first team at Man United,” he admits. “I would’ve loved to have continued my career at Man United. That was my dream but nobody will be able to take the fact that I made my debut away from me.

“There’s not a lot of people who can say that, and it’s something I can carry with me for the rest of my life.”