'No regrets' - one-time Manchester United protege loved by Jose Mourinho now targeting Wembley

Aidan Barlow is playing a leading role for Rochdale this season as the club look to secure a double

It was a Manchester derby weekend seven years ago that thrust a teenage Aidan Barlow into the limelight.

He was only 18 and making strides in the Manchester United academy when Jose Mourinho promoted him to first team training ahead of a clash with Pep Guardiola's City. United had just come from behind to beat Juventus 2-1 in Turin in the Champions League and Barlow had impressed in the Youth League equivalent, scoring in a 2-2 draw.

It wasn't the first time the midfielder had been in and around the senior set-up, but it made headline news and led to suggestions he could break through. Ultimately, despite a show of faith from Mourinho and his successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, that first team debut didn't materialise.

As the latest instalment of the Manchester derby rolls around this weekend, Barlow will likely be watching at home. But he will hope to do so celebrating reaching a Wembley final.

Now 25, he is a key part of a Rochdale side who are challenging for promotion back to the Football League and on Saturday afternoon welcome Spennymoor Town to the Crown Oil Arena in the semi-finals of the FA Trophy. A win would book a Wembley showpiece next month against either Aldershot or Woking.

And with Dale looking a good bet to reach the National League play-offs, it could turn into a season to remember for a club that has endured more than its fair share of tough times in recent years.

"It's exciting isn't it?" said Barlow, speaking to the Manchester Evening News on the eve of clash. "We're in the thick of it and have been for 10 weeks. It is always good to be in this sort of position and you feel more energised with a semi-final to come.

"Reaching Wembley would mean a lot for me personally and my family, but also everyone involved with the club. The fans, staff, players, everyone."

A last four victory could prove a catalyst for Dale to push on for promotion, having seen their 102-year stay in the Football League end in 2023, having only been relegated from League One two years earlier. A host of financial issues followed, before a takeover by the family of local businessman Peter Ogden last year finally brought some stability.

Barlow arrived after that period of turmoil, joining at the start of this season, and knows more than most about the rollercoaster life of football.

"Football is crazy with the highs and lows but you have to stay grounded, humble and level headed," he reflects.

This is a player who caught the eye coming through the academy at United, impressing under the guidance of Nicky Butt and starring and scoring in Youth League games. He was frequently involved in first team training sessions and earned international recognition, playing a key part in England's run to the Under-17 European Championship final in 2017 where they were beaten on penalties by Spain. Barlow was the sole England player to convert his spot kick in the shoot out after the Young Lions conceded an equaliser with the last kick of the game in a 2-2 draw.

Mourinho had been impressed with the cultured left-footer during his Old Trafford stay and under Solskjaer, Barlow joined Norwegian side Tromso on loan after conversations with the United staff about the best way to break into the first team in Manchester. Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard were among the senior players to take the Salford boy under their wing.

"Everyone was welcoming but the ones who have come through like Marcus, Jesse and Andreas (Pereira) knew what it was like and where they had come from them and they guided you and helped you," he recalled of his time on the fringes of the first team, summing up training and working under Mourinho as 'everything you imagine it would be'

"He was top," he added. "Anything you can think of, it was like that! I loved it. I embraced it and said to myself 'go and enjoy it.' The players you are training with and the manager you have . . . you have to enjoy that. Moments like that don't last forever. I wanted to take it all in.

"When the training starts it is down to you, it is sink or swim. You either step up and if you don't you will stand out like a sore thumb. It is not easy!"

Barlow held his own but was ultimately released in 2020. He then spent a season without a club, training on his own in the midst of a Covid pandemic unsure of what was to come.

"It wasn't easy," he reflects. "It wasn't easy for anyone but that made me who I am as well. I had to be really tough mentally, I had to try and believe in myself and continue to work even not knowing what was to come. Every day I told myself that you get out what you put in."

His hard work paid off and earned him a move to Doncaster Rovers. In 2023 he dropped into non-league with Eastleigh before moving to Dale. It is a journey that plenty of fellow former United academy players will have taken, and for Barlow it is a case of enjoying his football and living in the here and now rather than wondering what if. Looking at his international age-group team-mates, your eye is drawn to Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden among the star names now at the top of the game. Erling Haaland played for Norway in the tournament.

But Barlow, level-headed and with plenty of wisdom beyond his years, does not look on at what might have been.

"I don't think you can think like that," he said of his United career. "There is no reason to live with regret or what if this or that happened. I look back with great pride, amazing memories, It was a great time."

He continued: "Playing for England was a great experience, I remember getting called up for the tournament after having a good season.

"I made my debut against Ukraine (in the second group game), scored on my debut and I felt like I grew into that tournament.

"It was great to be around those players, if you look at that squad and what some of the names are doing it is mental. That team and age group was ridiculous.

"We were really unlucky not to win it, we conceded late in the game and lost on penalties. What I learned from that tournament . . . our manager was Steve Cooper and look at what he has done. I learned a lot from the experience, and from the players in training.

"I have had highs and lows and that is football, you can be there (playing for Manchester United and England) and then you can feel like you are nothing.

"The best way to be is to stay grounded and take things as it comes."

Easier said than done but Barlow has constantly tried to approach his life in football like that.

"I feel like I have always been like that but I have matured and more transparent with it with age, and the understanding," he surmises.

He added: "It has been up and down but that is what football is, when you get a few years in to a career you become grateful for everything that happened and things that happened help you for the future and to deal with things in the present.

"You have to embrace it and enjoy it, even when things are not going well. You need to know that doesn't last forever.

"I don't think anything can prepare you for (leaving United), they don't prepare you for it but the way they are instils the characteristics and the way you are as a person and the way you carry yourself. That still helps me now. If you are at a club like United it is always going to benefit you, you have to appreciate it positively.

"It is the things you learn that I can pass on now, everyone is different and had a different journey, especially here at Rochdale."

The next step on his journey could be a Wembley final.