Manchester United reluctant to let young midfielder leave in January

Manchester United are reluctant to let academy graduate Zidane Iqbal leave the club on loan in January.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the club are pondering whether to let the Iraq international leave in January on a temporary deal. It is believed that staff are concerned about the lack of depth in the middle of the park and feel the youngster would benefit from training with the first team for the remainder of the season.

If Iqbal does remain at United this term, he could be sent on a season-long loan next year to get more minutes under his belt. That would make most sense for all parties involved.

It’s far from ideal that Iqbal has been limited to just five games for the U21s this season. As an exciting talent for the future, it won’t do his development any good not playing football matches so that is something for United to address in the coming months.

The 19-year-old made his debut for United in December last year — against Young Boys in the Champions League. He also went on pre-season tour and performed well alongside fellow academy graduate Charlie Savage.

There should be lots of interest from Championship clubs and others from around Europe.

Ten Hag tends to opt for a midfield three of Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes but he will need cover throughout the second half of the season. Scott McTominay, Fred and Donny van de Beek are other options he could choose from in games the manager wants to rotate.

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