Kevin Nolan was ‘disappointed’ by Manchester United’s decision to recall Ethan Wheatleyplaceholder image
Kevin Nolan was ‘disappointed’ by Manchester United’s decision to recall Ethan Wheatley
The latest Man Utd transfer news in the January window with another loan exit expected.
The 19-year-old was recalled from his previous spell at Northampton Town on Monday, with a view to him heading out on loan to a club higher up the EFL ladder. It is understood that Wheatley will join Bradford, who are currently 3rd in the League One table, after he left Northampton in 20th.
Wheatley gained valuable experience at the struggling League One side, where he grabbed three goals and notched four assists, an impressive tally for a player of his age in a team near the bottom of the table. The teenage striker impressed with his work rate and application at Sixfields Stadium as he started 22 matches across all competitions.
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Wheatley set for Bradford loan spell
Ethan Wheatley became the fourth Manchester United loan player to be recalled in the January transfer window when he returned from Northampton Ton at the start of the week.
United have already recalled Toby Collyer from his spell at West Brom, while defenders Sonny Aljofree (Notts County) and Louis Jackson (Solihull Moors) have also returned from their loans. The club are also expected to recall Elyh Harrison from his loan at Shrewsbury Town, while a final decision has yet to be made on Harry Amass, who has impressed at Sheffield Wednesday.
Speaking after Wheatley returned to Manchester, Northampton boss Kevin Nolan admitted he was 'disappointed' by the decision after they had helped him develop. "Ethan going is disappointing because we expected to be able to keep Ethan for the rest of the season," he told reporters. “It took me a little bit by surprise because of the work we did in the summer and we feel we have helped Ethan and he’s improved with us and there was room for further improvement too.
"But he’s Manchester United’s player and they have every right to do what they want to do with him. He’s injured at the moment and will be for the next few weeks and we wish him a speedy recovery and I hope he does well in the future, but we have to move on and we already have. We’ve known this might happen and we have been working on getting someone else in as quickly as possible. I’m hoping that’s sooner rather than later.”
Wheatley has made four competitive appearances for the United first-team but never featured under former head coach Ruben Amorim. The teenage striker was also part of the England U19 side and scored twice for them in the European Championship last summer. He wrote his name in history when he became the 250th academy graduate to debut for the first team.
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