Amidst the many high-profile loans sanctioned by Manchester United this year, a forgotten loanee is making a case to gatecrash Ruben Amorim’s plans.
The likes of Marcus Rashford, Andre Onana, and Rasmus Hojlund are all on loan, but they are unlikely to ever play for the club again.
In the academy, high-profile loans include that of Radek Vitek, who’s shining for Bristol City and might well be preparing for a Man Utd role next season.
What nobody expected was for another loanee to fix his biggest issue this season and make a case to be a first-team contender at Old Trafford next season, but he’s been a pleasant surprise.
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Daniel Gore is getting back to his best
It feels like eons ago now, but once upon a time, Daniel Gore was the next big thing to come out of Man Utd’s academy, courtesy of a blitz in pre-season.
It was the pre-season of 2023, and Gore’s name was being spoken about in excited tones as he was doing his best impression of Roy Keane in the middle of the park.
Gore even made his first-team debut for Man Utd, but constant injury worries robbed him of crucial development time and minutes.
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An emerging batch of young midfielders meant he had to prove himself out on loan, but that didn’t go to plan either, as an injury-ridden spell at Port Vale followed more injuries at Rotherham last season.
However, this season, after joining Rotherham again, Gore is getting back to his best, shrugging off injury worries to play 91% of all available minutes in the league.
As the deeper midfielder, he has been one of Rotherham’s most consistent players, putting in 7/10 performances for a side that is distinctly average.
For Gore, just playing more minutes without his body breaking down would have been a success, but he has gone a step further and started getting back to his best in those minutes as well.
Gore is perfect for Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd
It remains to be seen whether United consider Gore to be good enough for a jump straight from League One to the Premier League, but stylistically, he’s perfect.
Rotherham play the same 3-4-3 system as Amorim’s at Old Trafford, and Gore excels as one of the two deeper midfielders.
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His combativeness, combined with progressive passing from deep, makes him the ideal engine room of a side where the defensive midfielder has to play an all-action role.
Most importantly, he is excelling in that role in an extremely physical league, while shrugging off injury worries, which speaks volumes about his mentality.
If he can transfer that mentality and form to the bigger stage by impressing in the pre-season next summer, he could easily save United millions by becoming a squad player.
United need to overhaul their midfield, and if Gore can become a solution off the bench in a rotation role, they can go all-in on buying genuine first-team quality instead.