Man Utd’s two bright loanees were at two opposite ends of the spectrum as Jayce Fitzgerald shone for Rotherham but Chido Obi’s loan goes from bad to worse.
Of all the loans sanctioned by the club this season, Jayce Fitzgerald and Chido Obi were the two most high-profile ones for differing reasons.
Obi’s case is self-explanatory, as he went on his first senior football loan as one of the most exciting prospects at Carrington.
Fitzgerald, on the other hand, surprised Man Utd fans by grabbing a League Two opportunity at the upper end of the table for his first-ever senior football experience.
Jayce Fitzgerald breaking through at Rotherham
It took some time for Fitzgerald to get up to speed at a challenging level of professional football, but he is finally starting to show why he deserves to play at this level.
With some minutes in the tank, he started and played the full 90 minutes in his last two games, and assisted a goal in each.
The latest came against Shrewsbury, where his side earned a point in a 3-3 thriller in which both sides were reduced to ten men.
Chido Obi playing against Fulham U21
Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images
Rotherham, however, saw the red card in the 21st minute itself, so Fitzgerald did an immense job of keeping things solid while also making a difference in the final third.
He played as one of three midfielders in a 4-3-3, and even beyond his assist, it was a good performance from the Man Utd loanee.
He created two chances, had 40 touches of the ball, three of which were in the opposition box, and finished the game with two defensive contributions and three recoveries.
Fitzgerald has well and truly kick-started his loan spell with a sustained spell of success. The same can’t be said for Obi.
Chido Obi’s new low at Willem II
Much has been written about Obi’s puzzling loan at Willem II, marked by meaningless cameos off the bench and the team lurching from one defeat to another.
The team’s results were always likely to be bad, but Man Utd fans were at least hoping for a Harry Amass repeat where Obi shines in a losing team.
Obi wasn’t getting chances to shine, and in Willem II’s latest game, he suffered a new embarrassment.
Willem II lost 6-1 at home to Cambuur in their worst performance yet, and Obi didn’t even come off the bench for a meaningless cameo this time.
The manager made three half-time subs when his team was already down 3-0, but Obi wasn’t called upon to add some attacking threat.
This brings his record at Willem II this season to a total of five appearances, none of which are starts, totalling 48 minutes of senior football.
This is genuinely worse than just staying at Old Trafford, where at least the standard of training would have been higher, and he might have had a cameo or two due to Benjamin Sesko’s absence.
Obi has been failed by Man Utd. There is no other way to put it.