Manchester United want all loanees to have successful stints away from the club. Dan Gore is no different after joining Rotherham for the remainder of the season in January.
Dan Gore was one of several players sent on loan to continue their development during the winter transfer window.
The young midfielder was joined by fellow Manchester United academy star Ethan Ennis who moved to Doncaster Rovers and Ethan Wheatley went to Walsall. Perhaps the highest-profile exit saw Marcus Rashford join Aston Villa, while Real Betis agreed to take Antony on loan.
It’s early days, but problems have emerged for Gore, who missed Rotherham’s previous two matches despite impressing on his debut with an assist.
Rotherham manager Steve Evans initially gave a bizarre explanation for Gore’s absence. He told reporters: “He worked for two days in the team and went home from training on Friday feeling good. I got a call from the medical staff that he’d woken up with his foot really sore.
“It’s unbelievable. We didn’t do enough in training for him to have a sore nose let alone a sore foot. Until I hear more from the medical staff as to how it’s happened and why it’s happened then it’s… maybe God will tell me when I go to sleep tonight.”
These comments raised eyebrows among the Rotherham community because Gore had a similar start to life with Port Vale on loan last season. Gore’s first loan away from Old Trafford was a disappointment, as he only made one appearance.
Dan Gore of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground on January 11, 2024 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Manchester United baffled by Rotherham boss
Evans’ initial comments on Gore were cruel, especially when he was unaware that the injury would require specialist attention.
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That is why it comes as no surprise that Manchester United have been left baffled by the initial outburst.
According to the Daily Mail, Evans’ comments about the 20-year-old raised eyebrows at Old Trafford.
The report adds that United chiefs are monitoring the situation to ensure Gore gets the protection he needs whilst away from the club.
Rotherham will be keen to get Gore back in the coming weeks as they sit 14th in League One.
Gore is set to miss Saturday’s trip to Reading.
Evans has since backtracked on his Gore comments by explaining that the youngster had suffered a foot injury that requires specialist attention.
The Rotherham boss stressed that he was ‘frustrated’ at the weekend because he thought he had his team prepared to face Shrewsbury until Gore’s injury forced him to make changes.
“I was frustrated at the weekend,” Evans said. “We’d worked on the team for two days before Shrewsbury and it changed at 9 am on Saturday morning.
“The kid trained really well and didn’t feel a thing. He was going to play a big part for us and then, after he’d gone home, he spoke to the head of medical and said he was feeling his foot.
“That was at about 6.30/7 o’clock on Friday evening. Quite rightly, he gets medication prescribed, it gets delivered to him and he takes it. But he wakes up in the morning and his foot is more sore.
“That’s why he’s seeing someone. Nobody is more devastated than me. I worked really hard to get him here. He had three clubs above us in League One who wanted but he chose us because of the football I convinced him he would get.”
Evans may be just giving Gore a bit of tough love, which does young players no harm in the long term, but his initial comments were an example of poor judgement. This is a young player who has been very unlucky with injuries and the manager overstepped the mark.
It really doesn’t come as a surprise that his comments haven’t gone down too well at United.
Hopefully, it’s a speedy recovery for Gore and he can get back to playing senior football.