Luke Chadwick was among Fergie's magnificent seven young players he tipped for stardom at Manchester United back in 2001... but who were the others and what became of them (including the former starlet who now collects council tax)?

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It was the summer of 2001 and the vast engine of the Manchester United machine was cranking into life for another tilt at the game's highest honours.

Sir Alex Ferguson's team of many talents had just won a third consecutive Premier League title, leaving the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Leeds United eating their dust.

With domestic competition in short supply, Ferguson's sights were firmly fixed on conquering the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich to win a second Champions League crown.

Sir Alex Ferguson revealed seven 'terrific prospects' in the Manchester United academy during the summer of 2001 that he backed to go on and achieve success 

United were in a buoyant position having just claimed three Premier League titles in a row

And in a case of the strongest simply getting stronger, United had belatedly completed the signing of Dutch hotshot Ruud van Nistelrooy and spent the best part of £30million on Argentine star Juan Sebastian Veron.

Not only that but, according to Ferguson, the famed Old Trafford academy production line was whirring along as well as ever, and he felt confident enough to single out seven players.

'We've got some terrific prospects at Old Trafford,' he said. 'Darren Fletcher, who we hope will get over his broken leg, is good.

'Michael Stewart and Luke Chadwick are doing very well. John O'Shea's doing well too.

The signing of Dutch goal machine Ruud van Nistelrooy pointed to further success at United

The £29m signing of Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio suggested United meant business

'There's a young left-back called Paul Tierney who is doing well, as is Danny Pugh. But there's a young boy who's started now, he's 16, called Kieran Richardson. He's going to be a fantastic player.'

It sounds like Fergie's magnificent seven were all 'doing well' and it must have been sickening for United's rivals at the time.

But it goes without saying that, with the benefit of hindsight, some of those names will be recognisable and others less so.

So what happened to the seven up-and-coming players Ferguson tipped for stardom back in 2001?

LUKE CHADWICK

Chadwick has returned to attention in recent days after opening up about how jokes about his appearance on the popular BBC sports quiz They Think It's All Over damaged his self-esteem.

Though a promising player on the verge of breaking into the United first team at that time, the cruel taunts about Chadwick's looks turned even everyday things like going to the shops into an ordeal.

The midfielder did make 39 first-team appearances for United but was never able to hold down a place in Ferguson's team and was largely used as cover.

Luke Chadwick had emerged into the United first team the season before Ferguson's remarks

He made 39 first-team appearances for the club in total before departing for West Ham

The latter part of his time at Old Trafford was spent out on loan at Reading and Burnley in the First Division, before he left to join West Ham in 2004.

Chadwick carved out a successful career in the Football League, playing for Stoke City, Norwich City, MK Dons and Cambridge United before retiring in 2016. He now works as a football coach.

His crowning achievement at United was lifting the Premier League trophy in 2001, just before Ferguson's comments were made.

Chadwick has recently been speaking about the TV celebrities who used to torment him

DARREN FLETCHER

United never had any doubts about Fletcher's abilities but around this time a series of injuries, including the broken leg Ferguson mentioned, threatened to derail his aspirations.

The Scot was originally seen as a right-sided midfielder similar to David Beckham but he matured into a hard-grafting and committed central midfielder who would become indispensable to United for years.

Ferguson had wanted to hand Fletcher his senior debut on the final day of the 1999-2000 season against Aston Villa but Premier League rules on schoolboys prohibited it.

Industrious Scottish midfielder Darren Fletcher was making his breakthrough at Man United

It would be almost another three years before Fletcher did make his senior debut in March 2003 against Basel in the Champions League.

Ferguson was emphatically proved correct as Fletcher became a regular fixture in United's midfield for over a decade, helping the club win five Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008.

The later part of his time with United was all the more remarkable as Fletcher battled the debilitating bowel condition ulcerative colitis.

Despite this, he played 342 games for United and went on to play for West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City before winding down his career at the age of 36.

Fletcher had a stellar career with United, winning the Champions League in 2007-08

MICHAEL STEWART

Stewart was another Scotsman in the United youth ranks, and another central midfielder who was always going to find it a challenge to usurp Roy Keane in the team.

Joining United's academy in 1997, Stewart made his senior debut in a 3-0 League Cup win at Watford in October 2000.

Later that season, having turned down a loan move to United's Belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp, he deputised in a handful of games for Keane as he served his suspension for that infamous tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland.

Stewart was awarded the Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year Award in 2001

The Scottish midfielder went on to make eight league appearances during his time at United

Though he made eight league appearances for United, Stewart found it difficult to break through and, after loans at Nottingham Forest and Hearts, he left Old Trafford for Hibernian in 2005.

Stewart subsequently crossed the Edinburgh divide to play for Hearts and rounded off his playing career with an injury-affected spell at Turkish club Genclerbirligi and a brief stint at Charlton.

He was capped four times by Scotland, mostly in 2002, and became a BBC pundit following retirement. However, he was suspended from this role earlier this year for comments about Rangers director of communications Jim Traynor.

Stewart now works as a pundit back in Scotland, appearing on the BBC and BT Sport

JOHN O'SHEA

The epitome of the versatile footballer, O'Shea played pretty much everywhere on the field for United, including a memorable stint in goal against Tottenham in 2007 when Edwin van der Sar suffered a broken nose.

Like Fletcher, his workmanlike contributions were very much undervalued at the time but O'Shea enjoyed a stellar United career, playing 393 times over the course of a decade.

The Irishman won five Premier League titles, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup, making him one of the most decorated Irish players ever.

Versatile Irishman John O'Shea amassed nearly 400 appearances for United's first team

O'Shea celebrates with the Premier League trophy after United's title success in 2008-09

Though Ferguson handed O'Shea his senior debut in a League Cup defeat at Aston Villa in 1999, he would be sent out on loan spells to Bournemouth and Royal Antwerp before making his breakthrough.

13 appearances for United in the 2001-02 campaign that followed Ferguson's comments confirmed his talent and he was a regular from then on, slotting in at whatever position needed filling.

Leaving United in 2011, O'Shea went on to play 256 matches for Sunderland before ending his career at Reading, where he is now a first-team coach. He also amassed 118 caps for the Republic of Ireland, playing at Euro 2012 and Euro 2016.

O'Shea finished his playing career at Reading and is now on the coaching staff there

PAUL TIERNEY

Ferguson spoke as though Salford-born Tierney would hold down the United left-back spot for years.

The manager's powers of perception again looked spot on when Tierney won the prestigious Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award at United for 2001-02.

But it didn't turn out that way, with Tierney making just the one first-team appearance for United, against West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup in December 2003.

Left-back Paul Tierney was another one of the seven prospects mentioned by Ferguson

In the end, Tierney made just one first-team appearance, against West Brom in the League Cup

He was sent out to Crewe Alexandra, Colchester United and Bradford City on loan to gain experience but couldn't crack the United first team upon his return.

Tierney was released in 2005, joining Livingston north of the border but let go again when they suffered relegation from the Scottish Premier League in 2006.

He joined Blackpool, playing a part in their promotion into the Championship, spent a loan spell at Stockport County and ended his career at Conference club Altrincham in 2008.

Tierney now works as a council tax team leader for Salford City Council.

DANNY PUGH

Pugh, predominantly a midfielder who sometimes slotted in at left-back, was handed his first-team debut by Ferguson not too long after his 'seven to watch'.

That came as a substitute for Van Nistelrooy in a Champions League group game against Israeli side Maccabi Haifa in September 2002 and his Premier League debut came a few days later against Tottenham.

Danny Pugh in action for United during a pre-season game with Club America in 2003

One of Pugh's eight appearances for United came against Deportivo in the Champions League

Pugh made eight appearances in all for United before being sent to Leeds United in 2004 as part of the deal that brought Alan Smith to Old Trafford.

He was practically an ever-present in his first season at Elland Road but then fell out of favour and embarked upon an extensive tour of the Premier League and beyond.

Pugh played for Preston North End, Stoke City, Leeds (again), Coventry City, Bury, Blackpool and finally Port Vale, where is currently a player-coach at the age of 37.

Pugh's long career in the Football League has now taken him to Port Vale, at the age of 37 

KIERAN RICHARDSON

Back in 2001, it seems Ferguson held out the highest hopes for the 16-year-old Richardson.

It was around that time United signed the Greenwich-born winger into their academy from West Ham and the teenager was soon making waves in the reserves, coming onto Ferguson's radar.

Invited onto United's pre-season tour in 2002, Richardson impressed enough to make his debut against Olympiacos in the Champions League that October. He ended the season by winning the FA Youth Cup, a reminder of his young age.

It wasn't until 2005-06, following a spell on loan at West Brom, that Richardson made his breakthrough. He initially deputised at left-back for the injured Gabriel Heinze before slotting into midfield to make 36 appearances that season.

Kieran Richardson in action on his United debut against Olympiacos in the Champions League

The winger played 81 matches in total for United and was capped eight times by England

His form around this time was good enough to win him eight England caps and he would score twice in a Chicago friendly against the United States.

But things unravelled during 2006-07 when he was criticised by Ferguson for playing poorly in a League Cup game at Crewe and game time became limited in a team being slowly built back up to success.

In 2007, Richardson was sold to Sunderland, then managed by Roy Keane, for £5.5m and played regular Premier League football there for five seasons.

The later part of his career saw time with Fulham, Aston Villa and Cardiff. Though Richardson didn't earn any more England caps, he enjoyed a consistent career at the highest level in England.

Now 35, Richardson hasn't retired and took to Twitter last December in an effort to find a new club.

Richardson pictured turning out for former club West Brom in a pre-season friendly in 2018