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Manchester United trimmed their squad yet further on Wednesday night with reports that young striker James Wilson had been sent on loan to Championship side Derby County.
Wilson will gain valuable experience in the Championship after failing to find regular first-team action in the 2014/15 season under Louis van Gaal. He was predictably unable to displace Wayne Rooney, Radamel Falcao or Robin van Persie, and could not offer the height and physicality of Marouane Fellaini when United were chasing a game.
United are taking a risk with their squad, with barely enough players to fill out a senior squad. There are barely 20 players (including Paddy McNair and Jesse Lingard) for the outfield positions, and an injury crisis of a similar scale to last season would cause potentially enormous trouble.
Falcao and Van Persie, as well as Javier Hernandez, have left United over the summer, meaning the attacking options at Old Trafford are now just Rooney, new signing Anthony Martial, winger Memphis, and Fellaini when desperate.