Manchester United prospect Sonny Aljofree has reportedly been unable to make his first-team debut due to an obscure Premier League ruling.
The Premier League giants are suffering an injury crisis in defence, with Harry Maguire the only senior centre-back available.
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Academy star Willy Kambwala has partnered him in United's past three games, most recently in their 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.
With Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof out of action, The Sun report that Erik ten Hag wanted to call up Under-21 star Aljofree.
It is said that the 19-year-old, who is the son of former Plymouth star Hasney, would have made the bench and possibly started in their 4-3 FA Cup quarter-final win over Liverpool.
However, Aljofree cannot be selected for the senior United team due to his joint registration deal with National League outfit Altrincham.
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The centre-back joined on loan for the rest of the season in February but can still play for their academy sides, and has made 18 appearances for United's Under-21s and even captained them.
Aljofree is yet to feature in a senior team squad and won't be able to do so for the rest of the season due to this loan deal, despite not featuring at all for Altrincham.
This will come to a blow to Ten Hag, who named young defenders Harry Amass and Habeeb Ogunneye on the bench at Bournemouth.
Martinez and Lindelof are ruled out until the start of May at the earliest, with United saying Varane is absent for the next few weeks.
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The club's current defensive frailties were clear to see in their draw on Saturday as they faced at least 20 shots for the sixth consecutive league game.
United sit seventh in the table but could slip further down during the run-in, which would spell their worst ever Premier League finish.
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Ten Hag was asked about this possibility during his post-match press conference, but said: "I don’t comment. I don't take that question. That is not that important for this moment.”
He then stood up and made his way to the exit as the pressure begins to build once again amid a winless run of four games.
Qualification for either the Europa League or Europa Conference League is still on the cards during their final six league games.
United are also in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they will face Championship side Coventry City next Sunday afternoon, which will be live on talkSPORT.