With academy graduates Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford proving to be important players for Jose Mourinho’s side in recent months, it’s time to look at the players who are currently out on loan from Manchester United and review how well they are doing so far this campaign.
Given the current situation of the Red Devils, it seems unlikely that any of the young individuals will get a chance to make a breakthrough into the first team, however, players from the youth academy in the past have generally gone on to completing a remarkable career at Old Trafford.
Here are the five players that left the club last summer in order to receive more game time...
James Wilson
With more than 10 league appearances throughout the 2014-15 season in Louis Van Gaal’s first year as manager, James Wilson was regarded as an ideal player to come off the bench and stretch the opposition’s defence with his lightning pace and dribbling ability.
Unluckily for the forward, he failed to impress the following campaign during his loan spell at Brighton as he was in and out of the starting line-up. Fast forward to this season, Wilson moved to Championship side Derby County, completing four league appearances before suffering from an awful knee injury in October.
Returning to the training ground for treatment, his loan deal with Derby was cancelled by mutual consent at the start of February. With no updates on when he will recover to full fitness, Wilson will surely want to forget about this season and aim to receive another opportunity to prove himself around the pre-season period during the summer.
Guillermo Varela
One of the first players to leave when Jose Mourinho was announced as United’s manager, Guillermo Varela completed a move to Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt following the interest of many clubs. During his second league appearance for the team, the Uruguayan international suffered a ligament injury in September which kept him out on the sidelines for the rest of the year.
Come the end of February, Varela made his first start since returning from injury in a 2-0 defeat against Hertha Berlin. It’s doubtful that he will gain more minutes soon or later as regular starter, Timothy Chandler, has been one of the side’s most consistent players this season.
With four appearances under his belt and only two months of league football remaining, it’s become clear that the 23-year-old’s move to Commerzbank-Arena hasn’t entirely gone to plan. Considering the fact that a release clause was added to the loan deal, there’s very little chance that Frankfurt will be ready to activate it.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson
Just like Varela, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson had an impressive start to the season at Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers. Unfortunately, following the sacking of manager Walter Zenga, the left-back has not been playing much under current boss Paul Lambert.
At the start of the year, Mourinho blocked the potential move of goalkeeper Sam Johnstone to Wolves on a loan deal, which led to some news that the Portuguese was not happy with the treatment that Borthwick-Jackson has been facing in recent months. In an interview with FourFourTwo, the defender revealed that Mourinho complimented him by saying he is a top player.
Managing to complete six league appearances, mainly in September and October, the youngster is yet to feature in 2017. Despite reports of the 19-year-old returning to Old Trafford not long ago, nothing came of it and he’s currently struggling to beat Matt Doherty to a start in the first XI within the left-back position.
Andreas Pereira
Although Granada are looking like being one of the La Liga teams to be relegated at the end of May, Andreas Pereira is without a doubt enjoying his time in Spain. The club are facing problems on and off the pitch, however, the Brazilian has been one of the side’s main positives this season and is making the most out of playing regular football.
Pereira recently revealed to the local media that Mourinho has been contacting him on a monthly basis and has been happy with the progress that the midfielder has made. The 21-year-old has been utilised either as a central midfielder or left attacking midfielder, nevertheless, his best displays have come when he has been selected to play in the middle of the pitch.
Producing impressive performances against the likes of Barcelona, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, Pereira’s loan move away from the Red Devils has been a successful one and he’ll certainly be looking forward to competing with his team-mates for a place in the starting XI this summer.
Adnan Januzaj
After going through a helpless loan spell at Borussia Dortmund last season, Adnan Januzaj has found life once again at Sunderland under David Moyes, who actually gave him his senior debut whilst he was the boss at Manchester United during the 2013-14 campaign.
He plays for the team that are in the relegation zone which doesn’t help the Belgian attacker at all, as he has to spend most of the game trying to recover possession before he attempts to make some chances for his side. Compared to the rest of the Sunderland squad, no player has completed more assists (3), key passes (31) and successful dribbles (52) than Januzaj so far this season.
There’s no doubt that 22-year-old has made some development, however, a move away from Old Trafford would be ideal for Januzaj in the summer as the options in the wide areas are already taken. With Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Lingard and Rashford being the options, it allowed Mourinho to let go of misfit winger Memphis Depay during the January transfer window.
