Manchester United U21s striker Ethan Wheatley has joined Walsall on loan until the end of the season.
The news was announced on United’s official website this morning.
It should be an excellent opportunity for the 19 year old, with Walsall flying high at the top of League Two, 12 points ahead of Crewe in second, with a game in hand.
Obviously, a team doing well should provide plenty of chances for a striker to get in the action and show what he can do.
Wheatley has already played four times for the senior team at Old Trafford, with former manager Erik ten Hag introducing him to the first team squad toward the end of last season.
This was on the back of a good run in the Under 18s last season, in which he “scored a double in the U18 Premier League Cup Final, eight goals in seven games in the league campaign at that age group, and the opening goal of the national league final at Stamford Bridge,” the club’s site notes.
Those performances earned him the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award.
He played thirteen minutes across three games in the first XI, but did not get on the scoresheet.
With him seemingly on the cusp of being named in this season’s senior squad, he was given a chance to impress in the pre-season tour of the USA. However, his performances there and since have largely disappointed.
Wheatley also played 5 minutes of the League Cup match against Leicester City this season but looked off the pace.
His regression has been unfortunate, especially given the struggles of the first team’s incumbent strikers, Rasmus Hojlund and Josh Zirkzee.
It has allowed younger starlets such as Gabriele Biancheri and Chido Obi to make up ground quickly and establish themselves in the Under 21s.
The Saddlers, coincidentally managed by Mat Sadler, should provide a great opportunity for the starlet to get back on track and fulfil the potential he showed last season.
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Red Billy
Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.
