According to reports from BBC Sport yesterday afternoon, Manchester United are unwilling to let striker James Wilson go out on loan to the Championship.
What’s the word?
The BBC have published comments from Wolves manager Kenny Jackett, who claims Manchester United won’t be letting the 19 year-old go out on loan as previously expected.
Earlier this month, Louis van Gaal said after loaning Adnan Januzaj to Borussia Dortmund; “I have said to Januzaj that I will give him opportunities in the position of nine and maybe of 10.I have done that and then decided that, no, it would be better for him to go to another environment.
“It is the same thing that I have said to James Wilson. I have said the same thing, only James has to go to a Championship club, so then I can call him back if my striker is injured. Then we need him and then he would have more playing time. But for Wilson, another year in the same way as last year is not good for his development. ”
But the Molineux boss has now declared otherwise. “The information is he’s not available. Manchester United are keeping him for the time being. There has been a number of clubs who have enquired about him and at one stage they had been saying perhaps he could go,” he said, as reported by the Beeb.
Why have United changed their mind?
Largely due to their shortage of goals in the Premier League this season and the recent injury to Wayne Rooney, who has missed Manchester United’s last two fixtures with a hamstring issue.
The Red Devils have netted just five goals from their first five league outings, three of which came in the same game – their Old Trafford win over arch-rivals Liverpool last weekend.
Rooney’s form has been particularly worrying; he’s managed just eight efforts on goal this term, none of which have managed to ripple the onion bag; whilst Marouane Fellaini and Anthony Martial both failed to convince during their recent starts at centre-forward against the Anfield outfit and PSV Eindhoven respectively.
Is Wilson good enough to start?
Wilson exploded onto the scene with a debut brace against Hull City during Ryan Giggs’ short tenure as interim manager towards the end of the 2013/14 campaign. He’s failed to rekindle that magic in front of goal since, although opportunities have been predominantly restricted to outings from the bench, managing just one goal from his 13 Premier League appearances last season.
But many have warmed to the young striker simply because he’s such a hard worker, which suggests he’s got the right attitude to eventually turn the enormous potential shown at U21 level into genuine talent. Likewise, if there’s one trait that seems to be relentlessly gaining importance in the Premier League, especially in regards to attackers, it’s work rate and enthusiasm.
A starting berth still seems unlikely but Fellaini’s emergency utilisation last Saturday is evidence enough that United are short on depth up top, whilst it’s far too early to be depending on £36million signing Anthony Martial for a regular supply of goals. That could see Wilson rack up a few more substitute appearances over the next few months and perhaps even a few starts in the Capital One Cup which, although not ideal, wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Could he still go out on loan and who would be interested?
Of course, Jackett didn’t quite make clear whether Manchester United aren’t interested in loaning out Wilson at this exact time or entirely. It could be the case that they’re not willing to let him leave until Rooney is fully fit again. The emergency loan window doesn’t actually close until November 25th, which is plenty of time for Louis van Gaal to change his mind.
The Championship would be the ideal environment for Wilson who, quite frankly, looks like he needs to improve his physicality to become a United regular. It’s also the highest level of football United are actually allowed to loan him to; emergency window loans must be domestic and not to a club in the same division.
Along with Wolves, Hull City and Brighton have shown an interest, according to Hull Daily Mail. They actually describe it as a ‘six-way scrap’, but don’t name the other three potential suitors.
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