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Manchester United have a tradition of promoting talented young players coming out of their academy to the first team. Last year, they became the only team in England's top flight to have a homegrown player in 1000 successive matchday squads.
Even the current Manchester United team is built around a strong core of academy players like Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, Scott Mctominay and Mason Greenwood.
Manchester United gaffer Ole Gunnar Solksjaer knows the pedigree of the players coming through the academy as he had a long and distinguished career at Manchester United as a player. He has handed debuts to many youngsters during the short time he has been in charge at the club.
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Manchester United recently adopted a new strategy to develop the academy players, which is evident from the vision that the head of first-team development Nicky Butt outlined a couple of years ago.
"Is it good to have some players just waiting for an U-19s game to come along? No. So we are looking to get players out on loan to develop them so they come back better players and better people for our club, with a real chance of playing on the biggest stage in the world," said Butt.
Manchester United sanctioned loan moves for a number of players from their U-23 squad to lower leagues like Championship and the League One or to foreign leagues. This allows the fulfillment of two objectives. First, it allows players in the U-23 age group to have valuable first-team experience. Secondly, the better players from the lower age groups can test themselves at a higher age group.
We look at 5 academy players out on loan who could break into the first team.
5. Teden Mengi
Teden Mengi is one of the most promising candidates to play for the Manchester United first team in the future. He is seen as a solution to the club's chronic center-back problem by fans. United's backline has not looked imposing after the departures of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.
Mengi is a Mancunian who is often praised for his leadership qualities on the pitch and the ability to play out from the back. He broke into the U-23 team last season at the age of 18 and was so impressive that he often found himself in the first team's Europa League squad.
The youngster finally made his debut in the same competition against LASK, being sent on in the final minutes to secure a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
Mengi has also made appearances for Manchester United in the Carabao Cup this season. However, in order to give him more playing time, the club agreed to a loan move for the player to Wayne Rooney's Derby County in January. Needless to say, playing under the guidance of a club legend will work wonders for the young prodigy.
4. Dylan Levitt
Already a Wales international, Dylan Levitt is one of the brightest talents to have come out of the academy in recent years. He forced his way into the Manchester United U-18 team in the 2017/18 season and played a vital role in the team's march to the PL North League title.
Levitt was called up to the Wales squad at the end-of-season training camp in 2019 by Ryan Giggs, who was so dazzled with the player's performance that he gave his first call-up to the senior team.
Levitt made his full debut for Manchester United in November of 2019, playing the full 90 minutes in their 2-1 loss to FC Astana in the Europa League.
Levitt's rising stock resulted in him being sent on loan to Championship club Charlton Athletic, where he made 5 appearances in total. A lack of game time led to this loan being terminated in favour of a new loan to Croatian team NK Istra 1961.
3. Tahith Chong
Tahith Chong has been on the periphery of the Manchester United first team for a couple of years now. He was regularly included in United's matchday squads last season and was also given chances in the Europa League by Solskajaer to establish himself.
The Dutchman has made 16 appearances for Manchester United and is described as a tricky winger with an eye for scoring goals. However, given the quality of options available to Solskajaer's at Manchester United this season, his playing time would be limited.
Chong was granted permission by the club to explore new pastures in search of minutes and he was loaned out to Werder Bremen in Germany. However, the loan move didn't work out as expected as he was mostly restricted to substitute appearances.
In order to further Chong's development, Manchester United management facilitated his switch from Bremen to Club Brugge, where he scored on his debut.
2. Facundo Pellistri
Facundo Pellistri was one of Manchester United's deadline day transfers in the 2020 summer window and was hailed as one for the future in South America. He has garnered high praise from legends like Juan Roman Riquelme and Manchester United cult hero Diego Forlan, who coached him at previous club Penarol.
Pellistri was given chances in the club's U-23 setup, where he proved his credentials with his predatory goalscoring and eye-catching performances.
Ultimately, the club hierachy decided that Pellistri had acclimatized to European football enough and it was time for him to gain first-team experience. A loan move to Spanish top-flight club Alaves materialized towards the end of the January transfer window.
1. James Garner
There were quite a few Championship clubs interested in signing James Garner for a temporary spell when Manchester United made clear their intention to allow him to leave the club for more playing time.
Garner is a 19-year-old box-to-box midfielder, who has a good track record of scoring goals from midfield at the U-23 level. He has also put in some mature performances for Manchester United in the Europa League.
Watford signed him, initially, and he had some excellent performances for the Championship club this season. However, the managerial merry-go-round at Watford resulted in Garner not getting enough minutes despite an encouraging start.
This resulted in a switch for Garner in the January transfer window to Nottingham Forest, where he showcased his talent on his debut for the club. Manchester United might be getting an excellent player back at the end of this season after his exploits in the Championship.
