Manchester United’s loanees are having a fruitful time, with Harry Amass right at the top of that list, and the club are now exploring a repeat of it with the player who’s also ready.
In Jonny Evans’ first season as Man Utd’s loan manager, the club sanctioned 18 loan moves, including academy players and wantaway first-team players.
Harry Amass’ move to Sheffield Wednesday has been nothing short of a masterstroke so far, while Radek Vitek is shining at Bristol City.
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Man Utd are now exploring taking a similar route with another wonderkid at Old Trafford who’s ready for the challenge.
Diego Leon and Manuel Ugarte training
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Man Utd exploring a loan move for Diego Leon
When Harry Amass moved to Wednesday, it was looked at as a win for Diego Leon, because it was a signal that Leon is deemed more ready for first-team football than Amass.
As it turned out, it was because Leon needed to get to grips with English football at his parent club, while Amass was ready for the grind of senior football.
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Having seen Amass flourish on loan and Leon having spent six months acclimatising to England, United are now ready for Leon to walk Amass’ path.
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Paraguayan journalist Uriel Lugt reports that there is a chance for Leon to seek a loan in January, and the full-back is ready for the challenge of seeking first-team minutes elsewhere.
Lugt writes, “Diego León has chances of going out on loan in the next transfer window. The full-back doesn’t look unfavorably on leaving Man Utd to rack up minutes and gain experience at another club.”
Leon is not the only youngster for a January move
Despite sanctioning 18 loan moves, expect Leon to be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to temporary moves in January.
The likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee in the first team will want more minutes, while Shea Lacey, Jack Fletcher, or even someone like Ayden Heaven merits more minutes.
The FA Cup will begin in January to facilitate rotation, but this season is simply in extraordinary circumstances with no European football and the Carabao Cup.
With the World Cup on the horizon, expect United to sanction further loans to get this tally up from 18 to about 22-23.
If even 25% of them pan out, it will be an unequivocal success for Man Utd.