Manchester United technical director Darren Fletcher has spoken of his optimism about loanees Amad and James Garner returning to Old Trafford at the end of the season, but the Scot has recognised the need for balance.
Ivorian international Amad had struggled for first-team action after his big-money move from Atalanta, starting just once under Ralf Rangnick, but scored on his debut for Rangers after joining the Scottish champions on loan in January.
Garner, meanwhile, has spent the season in the Championship with Nottingham Forest and impressed as Steve Cooper's side knocked top-flight opponents Arsenal and Leicester City out of the FA Cup.
The exciting pair are among more than a dozen players currently out on loan, and former United midfielder Fletcher namechecked both youngsters when explaining United's plans for how they will use the loan system going forward.
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“We have to manage the balance between allowing them to develop and creating the right steps for that, without piling the pressure onto them," Fletcher said at a Fans' Forum event, as reported by The Athletic.
“Along with (head of academy Nick Fletcher), I’m looking at how we best use the loan system to give academy players invaluable experience at other clubs.
“We currently have 13 young players and academy products on loan and playing regularly in other divisions or leagues.
“Hopefully we’ll see players like Brandon Williams, Teden Mengi, Jimmy Garner, Ethan Laird, Tahith Chong, and Amad Diallo reap the benefits of that. All of them are doing really well on loan and we’re excited to bring them back in pre-season to see how they fare with our first-team players.”
United have made plenty of use of the loan market in recent seasons, both when it comes to academy talents and more established players.
Diogo Dalot has returned to the first team this term after spending last season with AC Milan, while Dean Henderson's run in the first team last season came off the back of some impressive loan stints with Sheffield United.
In addition to Garner and Amad, United have Williams at Premier League Norwich, while Mengi and Laird joined Chong in the Championship with January moves.
A number of more senior players are also spending the current campaign away from Old Trafford, with Donny van de Beek joining Everton for the remainder of the campaign on transfer deadline day.
Fletcher, who played more than 300 first-team games for United after coming through the academy in the early part of the century, also shed some light on how his own role has been affected by personnel changes around Old Trafford.
“With Ralf and his staff coming in, and Michael (Carrick) and Kieran (McKenna) choosing to move on, we had a quick transition process, so part of my role has been to assist with that, both on the training pitch and during games," the 38-year-old said.
“I guess that’s been the most visible part for me this season, but that’s really an addition to my overall technical director role.
“Probably the key part of the role is taking a holistic view of the path for players from our academy to our first team. That pipeline of academy talent is a massive part of who we are as a club.”
