In Hojlund’s case, that is despite him missing nine games through

injury. In Garnacho’s, it is despite him needing to wait to earn Erik ten

Hag’s trust in the early part of the campaign. Having only started three
games up until November, he has since started the last 38
consecutively.
Mainoo lags slightly behind the other two, largely due to the ankle
injury that sidelined him for the first three months of the campaign. If
not for that, his rise to becoming a first-team regular would have come
far sooner.
The future is now, but it has also had to be. While Ten Hag deserves
credit for Garnacho and Mainoo’s integration in particular, the United
manager would also accept that the squad’s younger players have been
relied upon out of necessity and used more than anticipated due to an
unrelenting injury crisis.
Hojlund has had no natural back-up since Anthony Martial’s final
United appearance on December 9. Only the recent adoption of a
false-nine system has allowed for the 20-year-old to be rotated. Before
that, Hojlund had one goal in 10 appearances. He scored two in two off
the bench to end the league season.