Brandon Williams has promised to return "stronger" after a frustrating injury kept him out of Manchester United ’s pre-season tour.
The Red Devils have flown out to Thailand as they continue their preparations for Erik ten Hag ’s debut campaign in charge following his summer switch from Ajax. They will take on Premier League rivals Liverpool in Bangkok in a friendly clash before facing off with Crystal Palace in Singapore.
United have already named the squad travelling to Asia, with Cristiano Ronaldo one of the most notable names to miss out. The Portuguese star has not reported for pre-season training due to ‘family reasons’, whilst he has also submitted a request to leave the club following their failure to qualify for the Champions League.
Phil Jones, as well as academy trio Teden Mengi, Alvaro Fernandez and Shola Shoretire, have been left out for the trip with their futures at Old Trafford looking uncertain.
One further absentee is left-back Williams, with the club confirming that he has picked up a ‘small issue’ and will now return to the club’s Carrington training base. Following the news, Williams took to Instagram with his response.
He wrote: "My injury, I told myself to deal with it and bounce back stronger. My goal is to play in-front of the best fans in the world."
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Williams, 21, will certainly hope to find his way back into contention after a spell away at the club last term. He joined Norwich City on a season-long loan and made 29 appearances in all competitions as the Canaries suffered relegation back to the Championship.
The youngster will have to beat plenty of competition should he hope to regain a starting berth at left-back. The Red Devils welcomed former Feyenoord man Tyrell Malacia to the club last week, whilst they already have the likes of England international Luke Shaw and former Porto star Alex Telles at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag has made the decision to sell the latter this summer, though, which could make Williams’ route back into first-team contention slightly easier. In all, he has made 50 appearances for the club throughout his career.
He was handed his debut for the Red Devils during the 2019/20 campaign and the coming season looks crucial to his future Old Trafford prospects.
Williams has two years left to run on his contract with the club, so it looks likely that he could be sold sooner rather than later should he be unable to regain a place in the side.
Previous reports have suggested that the Red Devils would be willing to listen to offers for the academy graduate, with fellow full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka also among those who could be on the way out of Old Trafford this summer.
