Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Max Taylor is an 'inspiration' to his Manchester United teammates as he prepares to make his debut for the club.
Taylor, 19, was last year diagnosed with testicular cancer and had his left testicle removed on October 4. A biopsy showed it to be the primary cancer, but a CT scan showed that it had 'spread through the abdomen, the lymph nodes in the abdomen and started a few specks on the lungs'.
The teenager endured an intense, draining nine-week course of chemotherapy followed by a single day involving as much as eight hours of chemo and four hours of hydration.
Taylor has been named in a callow United squad for their penultimate Europa League group game at Astana and will start the game on the bench.
"It's a fantastic story, to see him coming back," Solskjaer said. "I met Max very early after I got the job and to have seen his journey back to full fitness and the way he's conducted himself, and it's something he'll always have with him. He's been through something no one should have to go through but he's come through the other end.
"He's an inspiration for all the players. You can see when he's out on the pitch there's no fear anymore, he's had fear in his life, when you're on the football pitch you should enjoy yourself and I hope we can see him progress in his career. It's a chance for us to give him extra motivation as well."
In an interview conducted with PA last week, Taylor said: "I always had a mindset of that there's no way I'm not going to be alive after this. But there were times where I thought 'will I be able to play football after this?' And there were times where I thought there's no way I can get back to that.
"But I think the message that I want to get out to everyone is it is possible - and it is possible to do more than what I've done after you've gone through such trauma.
"It is possible to get back wherever you want to go."
