Manchester United have allowed their U21 captain Jacob Devaney to head out on loan to St Mirren with the teenage star adamant he needs to be playing senior football
Jacob Devaney has been captaining Man Utd's U21s
Jacob Devaney has been captaining Man Utd's U21s
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Manchester United's U21 captain Jacob Devaney believes he's "proven himself" at that level and now needs to play senior football after securing a switch to St Mirren for the remainder of the campaign.
The 18-year-old has come through the ranks at Old Trafford and is playing above his age in a leadership role, but headed north of the border until the summer in a bid to further his development.
St Mirren pounced on deadline day and United were willing to let the U21 skipper leave for Paisley with Devaney himself seeing it as the ideal landing spot to push on as he stakes his claim for first-team football.
He told Sky Sports: "I feel like I'm at an age where Im ready to play mens football, feel like I've proven myself as U21 player and this is a great club to do it. As soon as the offer came up it was a no brainer."
His parent club were very much in favour of him heading out as Devaney added: "They said use it as an opportunity to improve, play men's football, learn the game and come back a better player in the summer. Theres definitely a pathway at United, it is known for bringing through academy players and this is a good stepping stone for myself."
Devaney has been a key figure in United's U21 set-up this season, playing in every game under two different coaches - first Travis Binnion and then Tom Curtis. He has impressed in a number of positions including central defence, right-back and in central midfield in a United side have spent the majority of the season at the top of the Premier League 2 table.
St Mirren claimed the Scottish League Cup earlier this season, beating Celtic in the final at Hampden Park. Since that triumph their league form has suffered and they languish down in tenth, but they believe Devaney can give them a fresh injection.
The teenager will play out the season with St Mirren
The teenager will play out the season with St Mirren(Image: St Mirren)
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Manager Stephen Robinson claimed: "Jacob gives us something that we haven't got. We haven't really replaced Caolan Boyd-Munce and with Keanu [Baccus] being injured we haven't had that link between defence and midfield in recent weeks.
"He's a really highly thought of young player at Manchester United so we're looking forward to getting him involved. He's been playing U21 football for Manchester United on a regular basis and with our injuries he could get thrown in at the deep end, but we believe he's got a mentality to handle that and is someone we feel can make an impact."
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