Dylan Levitt and James Garner set for loan moves away from Manchester United

Dylan Levitt will be spending the 2020/21 season on loan at Charlton Athletic according to The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell. The 19-year-old Manchester United academy player has made one senior appearance for the Red Devils, impressing over 90 minutes in last season’s Europa League match in Astana.

It’s been a busy week for Levitt. He made his full senior international debut for Ryan Giggs’ Wales side, impressing over the full 90 minutes in their 1-0 win against Finland in the UEFA Nations League. This week he’s secured a move that will see him play regular football at the first team level for the coming season.

Levitt’s midfield partner that night in Astana, James Garner, looks set to follow him out on loan with Simon Peach reporting that the young midfielder will make a decision as to where he goes this week. Blackburn, Millwall, and Huddersfield are all reportedly interested in his services.

Garner has made seven senior appearances for United with two of them coming in the Premier League. Despite their young ages both he and Levitt have already outgrown the U23 level, but while they impressed in their brief first team opportunities last season, they weren’t ready for the physicality of senior football.

With United’s midfield currently a little light in the depth department fans may have been hoping to see them get more chances this year, but a year playing consistent first team football is the best course of action for them both.

Defensive midfielder Arnau Puigmal as well as center backs Max Taylor and Di’Shon Bernard also look set for loan moves. All three were in United’s Europa League squad that travelled to Astana, with Bernard playing the full 90 minutes.

Last season Taylor battled back from a 2018 testicular cancer diagnosis to make six appearances for United’s U23s before going on loan to non-league Stalybridge Celtic.

United featured a very young U23 team last year, with most players still in their teenage years. The next step for these players, especially defenders, is to play first team football and gain experience playing against men.

Two notable players not going on loan are Teden Mengi and Ethan Galbraith.

Mengi is one of the biggest defensive prospects to come out of United’s academy in quite some time. He captained United’s U18s in the FA Youth Cup last season, regularly featured for the U23s, and made his first team debut in the Europa League vs LASK.

At 18 years old, Mengi looks set to captain the U23s for the upcoming season, though given his projection, United fans are hoping to see him in the first team a few times.

However, the jump from youth football to senior football is quite big. Mengi likely needs a season of consistent first team football before he’s ready to be a regular contributor to United’s back line. Given he only turned 18 in April, United wanted to keep his development in house for another season.

Galbraith is a name United fans should probably get used to. The 19-year-old played 19 times for United’s academy last season. He was used evenly as an attacking midfielder, box-to-box midfielder, and defensive midfielder and won his first cap for Northern Ireland last September.

We shouldn’t expect many (if any) first team starts for Galbraith this season, but given Garner and Levitt are out of the picture this year he’ll probably get some appearances off the bench, especially in the cups.