Manchester United struggled to properly utilise their loan system last season with a number of players failing to get the minutes they needed while away from Old Trafford. Axel Tuanzebe only managed 130 minutes at Napoli while Amad and Facundo Pellistri struggled to get on the pitch for Rangers and Deportivo Alaves respectively.
The players that spent time in the Championship however were much more successful. Tahith Chong got regular minutes for Birmingham until his unfortunate injury and Ethan Laird was a regular starter for Swansea, though fitness problems meant he got reduced minutes in the second half of the season at Bournemouth.
With that in mind, a number of United's loanees have temporarily moved to clubs in England's second tier this season to gain experience and play regular football.
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Alvaro Fernandez has headed to Preston North End while Amad is spending time on loan at Sunderland. But two of the players who have been standing out as of late are Laird and Hannibal Mejbri.
Laird is currently at Queen's Park Rangers and has made 11 appearances so far this season. In that time he has scored one goal and registered two assists showing that he can contribute to the team going forward effectively.
Laird's development is going well but United and United will be happy that manager Michael Beale has turned down an approach by Wolverhampton Wanderers over their vacant manager post. With the 42-year-old staying at the London club, this will be a boost for the youngster's progression.
Hannibal on the other hand is slowly being bedded into the Birmingham squad. The Tunisian midfielder has made nine appearances so far but only three starts.
However, in his limited time on the pitch, he has already endeared himself to the fanbase.
His teammate Juninho Bacuna praised the 19-year-old midfielder for his performance against Hull City over the weekend telling Blues TV: “He’s a good player – he likes to play with the ball, make runs and he’s good for what the team needs. He’s young, got loads of energy and he’ll keep going for 90 minutes and that’s good for the team.”
Overall United should be happy that both players are doing so well and in the long term both will hopefully be able to contribute to the first team under Erik ten Hag. Though there is still a lot of football left to play.
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