Colombian Caicedo makes his debut at Manchester United, wearing the No. 17 shirt for the second team! The reason behind keeping the million-dollar new signing unannounced revealed.

This summer, Manchester United confirmed the arrivals of five new players, yet there is actually a sixth who has already joined. The 18-year-old Colombian holding midfielder, Cristian Orozco, has become a Red Devil and has already appeared for the U21 side. Nevertheless, the club decided not to issue an official announcement about his signing.

Nine months ago, United reached an agreement with Colombian top-flight side Fortaleza CEIF to sign Orozco for $1 million (£750,000). However, according to FIFA transfer regulations, he had to wait until this summer's window to join because a player must be at least 18 years old for an international transfer.

Orozco reached the transfer age in mid-July, passed his medical, and signed the contract. However, Manchester United typically does not announce signings that are strictly for the academy system; Orozco is clearly still considered a youth team player. This is to reduce excessive attention on young talents, preventing them from bearing too much pressure at a young age or getting lost in fame and fortune.

The treatment of 15-year-old wonderkid Gabriel is a template. The club insists that although he trained with the first team for over a week and was included in the squad for the friendly against Rosenborg, it was already decided that he would not play.

Last week, Gabriel announced that he had signed a long-term contract with Nike, and Nike also commissioned a portrait of him. Manchester United must be very cautious in handling Gabriel's situation because Barcelona has shown keen interest in him over the past two years. Gabriel cannot sign a professional contract until he turns 17 next year, but United can agree a pre-contract with him, similar to how Arsenal handled 16-year-old Max Dowman.

Gabriel was even briefly listed on United's official website in the first-team squad, but the club quickly removed him along with Jacob Devaney, Dan Amour, Ethan Williams, Jayden Kamason, Jim Thwaites, and others, explaining that it was only to reflect their participation in pre-season. Several young players originally listed in the first team, such as Chido Obi, Dan Gore, and Ethan Wheatley, were also moved to the U21 level.

Orozco, nicknamed 'Colombian Caicedo' by fans, will not be able to break into Manchester United's first team in the near future. The club believes he has the potential to eventually make it to the senior squad, but for now, he can only be assessed by the United coaching staff in the U21s while adapting to a new environment.

Orozco is the latest acquisition under Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's youth development strategy, as Ratcliffe aims to bring in promising young talents and cultivate 'United's own Mbappe'. Before him, the Red Devils signed Malian defensive midfielder Sekou Kone, Paraguayan full-back Diego Leon, and French forward Enzo Kana-Biyik, among other young players.

United has always signed young players to strengthen their academy, but the type of target players has changed. Due to Brexit regulations, the club cannot sign players under 18 from Europe, so they have had to look further afield, particularly South America and Africa.

This is because European players can only join English clubs after turning 18, as in the case of Biyik. However, by that stage of their careers, players are usually already under contract with clubs, making them harder to sign.

African and South American players are cheaper and can bring lucrative returns. The best outcome is that the young talents brought in can make it to the first team, but in most cases, they fail to succeed and are sold for profit.

The Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) are driving more and more Premier League clubs to buy young players with the intention of selling them for profit after a few years. In reality, most of these players fail to break into the first team. For example, Kone and Leon, signed after Ratcliffe's takeover, have not yet made their senior debuts for United.

Kone, once touted as the 'new Yaya Toure' and 'new Essien', is now 20 years old. He was loaned in January to Lausanne Sport, a Swiss club owned by Ratcliffe, but soon suffered a setback as he was not registered for the Europa Conference League squad. Next season, Kone has been further loaned by United to the Swiss Super League, hoping he can perform better.

Leon was unveiled last summer alongside Mbemo, Cunha, and Sesko, and was included in the matchday squads for games against Manchester City, Brentford, and Sunderland between September and October. Unfortunately, for the rest of the season, he never made it back into the first-team matchday squad and was sent down to the second team. Leon has shown some potential in youth matches, but he is still raw and not ready for the first team, so a loan move would be the best option for him.

Kone joined for a transfer fee of around £1 million, and it is almost certain that United will make a profit from him in the future. However, the signing from Cerro Porteño cost more: a basic fee of £3.3 million plus add-ons that could reach up to £7 million. Orozco will surely also bring profit to United, but fans would certainly prefer that he eventually succeeds at Old Trafford. Even if he doesn't become a Caicedo, reaching the level of Fred would be fine.

In a match where Manchester United U21 lost 0-1 to National League side Altrincham, Orozco wore the No. 17 shirt and came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute. Also appearing in the second half was the aforementioned French forward Biyik. The match report on United's official website made no mention of Orozco at all; his name only appeared in the substitution list, which was indeed very low-key. However, the fans at the scene warmly welcomed the new signing, with many asking for his autograph.