The final game of English football's professional season was a good one for Manchester United. James Garner was one of the best players on the pitch at Wembley, finishing an impressive loan spell with Nottingham Forest by helping them to the Premier League after a 23-year absence.
He hasn't kicked a ball for United this season, but so bad has the campaign at Old Trafford been that Garner is one of the more encouraging stories to emerge from 2021/22. He has got better and better for Forest, especially since the appointment of his former England Under-17 manager Steve Cooper in September, and has earned a chance in pre-season with his parent club.
Erik ten Hag will take the midfielder on the tour of Thailand and Australia and with spots up for grabs in an area of the pitch weakened by the departures of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba, an opportunity is knocking for Garner. How he does on that tour and in the four pre-season games included in the itinerary will decide his next move.
READ MORE: Ten Hag might copy Solskjaer's loan trick to seal Garner future
Garner could yet force his way close to the first-team picture under Ten Hag, but a central midfielder is top of the Dutchman's shopping list and Donny van de Beek is also returning from a loan at Everton. If Garner does enough to be in the first five players up for selection then he might stay at Old Trafford, but at 21 there is also a sense he needs to be playing games and a season of Premier League football with Forest is a possibility.
Garner wasn't the only United player in action at Wembley over the weekend, with goalkeeper Nathan Bishop on the losing side for Mansfield in the League Two play-off final and the 22-year-old has enjoyed a good season. Another loan move is a certainty for Bishop, however.
Those two stick out, though, as rare success stories when it comes to United's loanees this season. Garner has improved considerably for his exposure to first-team football in the Championship and he's been at the perfect club, although the appointment of Cooper was a stroke of good fortune.
Beyond that, the players who would expect to be pushing towards the first team have struggled, while the senior players who moved to try and reestablish their own credentials have also generally found the going tough.
There are vacancies on the right of United's attack this summer but neither Amad nor Facundo Pellistri have done enough to force their way in. Excitement was high around Amad when United committed a potential £37million to sign him two years ago, with £19million of that paid upfront to Atalanta, but his career is yet to take off.
He turns 20 next month and a loan move to Rangers in January peaked inside the first four minutes, when he scored against Ross County. He did score two further goals in May but in 13 appearances he never played more than 66 minutes. He was an unused substitute in all of Rangers' nine Europa League games after Christmas and now has a point to prove next season.
The idea of that loan was to get the teenager used to the rigors of British football but in his second game he looked out of his depth in an Old Firm fixture and six months on there are more doubts than ever about his ability to make it in the Premier League.
Pellistri returned to Alaves after spending the second half of last season there, but he started just six La Liga games this season and never completed 90 minutes. Alaves finished bottom of La Liga and Pellistri appeared in just five of 20 games after the Christmas break. At 20 he isn't returning to Carrington ready to make an impact this summer.
There are similar stories elsewhere. Ethan Laird did well for Swansea in the first half of the season but United then decided to switch him to Bournemouth and he played in just six of the Cherries' 21 Championship games.
Dyan Levitt did well at Dundee United and Brandon Williams was solid at Norwich, but Teden Mengi lost his place in the Birmingham team. Axel Tuanzebe had disappointing loan spells at Aston Villa and Napoli, Anthony Martial's value has plummeted in his time at Sevilla and Van de Beek shone only occasionally at Everton.
That makes Garner the undoubted success story and this is an area United must improve on next season. Most elite clubs pay close attention to their loan system now, with staff employed to find the right clubs and retain regular contact.
With United's football structure now taking shape that is an area they can look to fine-tune next season, with technical director Darren Fletcher likely to take a more hands-on approach in this area.
The success of the Youth Cup-winning side this season shows the talent is there at United, but getting players the right loan moves for their development is vital. It's inevitable that not every loan will go well and there are lessons to be learned when it doesn't, but too many players have seen their development stall this season.
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