Jose Mourinho is under siege from all quarters for his apparent shunning of youth – but the Manchester United boss has found an unlikely ally in British sprinter Adam Gemili.

Mourinho complained that he did not access to ’30 per cent of his squad’ after being forced to rely on his younger players in a 4-1 thumping by Liverpool earlier this week.

His attitude towards them is in stark contrast to Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp – who have both been more than happy to give youngsters some exposure on their pre-season tours.

But Mourinho has been judged unfairly, at least that’s according to former Chelsea academy player Gemili.

The 23-year-old, who won 200m gold at the 2014 European Athletics Championships, was a professional footballer in his teenage years before switching his attention to the track.

Gemili has written on Twitter of Mourinho’s devotion to the younger players while at Chelsea, having been involved in the system during his first stint at the club.