Manchester United’s technical director Darren Fletcher has offered valuable insights into how the club keeps an eye on Academy players sent out on loan.
In an interview with club media, Fletcher revealed how United continue to consult these players to help them settle in at their new surroundings. This includes conversations with those sent on loan to check in on their development.
These players are also watched closely in every game by United representatives who report back to Fletcher as well as football director John Murtough.
“Les Parry is probably the one with the closest contact,” Fletcher told ManUtd.com. “He’ll be up at the games regularly, with a few of our other scouts and loan scouts, and Les meets Will [Fish] after the games, speaks to him, talks about his development plan and then that gets transferred back to the relevant people in the club.
“There’s constant conversation around young players because it’s a big part of the development. We all have regular meetings, so we have a regular pathway and player meetings, talking about squad planning, progression and the next stages. We talk about January and all of our [youth] loan players have recall clauses, six months into it.”
When asked about recalling players from loan spells, Fletcher stressed that United would only do that if they’re not plating or because they’re ready for the next level.
Fletcher added: “Not that that is the plan it’s just for all eventualities really. So we’ll talk about do we trigger that loan for the rest of the season or is there another plan? And that can be because they’re not playing or because they are playing but they’re ready for something different.”
You would hope that United are paying closer attention to this because some loan spells don’t go to plan. All you need to do is look at Amad Diallo’s spell at Rangers before he spent a season at Sunderland.
United’s loanees include Alvaro Fernandez, Brandon Williams and Mason Greenwood.
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