United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given first-team minutes to several young players. Angel Gomes, Mason Greenwood, James Garner and Tahith Chong are some of the players that have played several minutes for The Red Devils so far this season. However, that might not be the case after the January transfer window.
The Red Devils are open to sign first-team quality players in January, so minutes will be reduced. Plus Nicky Butt, who has been recently appointed as the team’s head of first-team development, has indicated some of the young players might end up leaving the club on loan this winter. His words were echoed by the club’s academy player performance manager Les Parry.
“We’ll plan it out and we’ve identified four or five who might be going out in January. Obviously, our first-team manager has a say,” Parry told the club’s official website. Three lads could have possibly gone on loan – Angel Gomes, Tahith Chong and James Garner – but he wanted to keep them here and have a look at them on tour. So a decision will be made, no doubt, for January as well. Hopefully, all three will be in the first team and not going anywhere.”
In fact, Parry revealed how the likes of Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong came close to leaving Old Trafford on loan during the summer. But he also said Solskjaer has a saying on who stays and who leaves.
So… which player is going to leave? Who might stay?
Greenwood is probably not going anywhere due to the team’s lack of depth upfront. The same goes for Axel Tuanzebe, who has settled as a first-team player this season.
However, others could use a move away from Old Trafford. Garner, Chong and Gomes could use a loan elsewhere to gain consistent first-team minutes. In particular, Chong has struggled when given the chance. He might not be ready to feature at Old Trafford yet.