Manchester United have been guilty of a transfer deadline-day "balls-up" by Crawley Town manager John Yems after D'Mani Mellor's proposed loan switch appears to have fallen through.
The 21-year-old forward had spent the first half of the season on loan with Salford City, a club that already has strong ties with the Red Devils given they boast names such as Gary Neville and Paul Scholes at boardroom level.
However, he was recalled from his first loan stint due to finding playing time hard to come by at Salford, with Mellor making just four appearances for the club during the first half of the campaign.
Almost everything was in place for Mellor to try and kickstart his season at the People's Pension stadium but an admin error looks to have scuppered the entire move.
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While there are still hours to go before the transfer window officially closes, Crawley boss Yems was hardly optimistic over his side's chances of securing the talented youngster before the deadline.
"We had some disappointing news concerning the United player," Yems confirmed.
"There was a right balls-up with the paperwork from their end and I don’t think that will go through, we are trying to rectify it."
Mellor has also enjoyed four run-outs for United's U-23 side this season, where he has netted three times and registered one assist - an impressive return.
He does also boast a very limited amount of first-team experience, Mellor coming off the bench for the final 25 minutes of a 2019 Europa League tie against Astana.
If by some miracle late in the day United manage to rectify their paperwork blunder and Mellor gets his move, he would become the seventh United player to leave the club on loan this month.
Teden Mengi has opted to drop down a division to spend the rest of the season with Birmingham, while Ethan Laird has made a similar switch to fellow Championship side Bournemouth.
Axel Tuanzebe has upped sticks to ply his trade abroad with Serie A giants Napoli.
Amad has made the short trip to Scotland to spend the rest of the season with Rangers where he has already got off the mark after his debut goal against Ross County.
The most noteworthy departure comes in the form of Anthony Martial, who has joined La Liga outfit Sevilla after nearly seven years as a United player.
The Frenchman was deemed surplus to requirements by Ralf Rangnick, wo accused Martial of refusing to play in the 2-2 away draw with Aston Villa earlier this month.
