MANCHESTER United players left an Arnside-teenager ‘star-struck’ after they visited him at a North West children’s hospital.

The squad split into two and headed to The Christie, in Manchester and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital armed with hundreds of United goodies, which had been wrapped by the club’s youth players and staff at the Aon Training Complex.

The visits are organised annually by the Manchester United Foundation and patients at both hospitals were delighted to meet their heroes.

Patrice Evra joined Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Shinji Kagawa and Alex Buttner at the Young Oncology Unit at The Christie.

Christie patient Iorie Hicks, 18, from Arnside, said: “I found out the players were coming and it was like a massive rush for me, I jumped out of bed and got ready for the visit.

"I’m a massive United fan, I work in a chip-shop where we have five TVs just so we don’t miss a single second of a single match.

“I’m completely star-struck, all my mates are United fans, when I told them on Facebook that the players were coming in they were all excited and jealous. The players were lovely.

"I loved seeing Wayne and I’m Welsh so loved seeing Ryan but all the players were lovely and genuinely personable and listened to what I had to say.”

Legend, Ryan Giggs, said: “The players know how important it is for the patients, especially the ones who won’t be home for Christmas.

"It’s good to give them a boost at a difficult time and it’s something the lads all look forward to. You just have to see the faces of not only the patients but their families as well to see how special it is for them.”