Manchester United are preparing to loan out three young talents in the January transfer window. Diego Leon, Aiden Heaven, and Chido Obi are all available for temporary transfers. The Red Devils may be busy in the winter market in preparation for player departures due to the African Cup of Nations, with the likes of Brian Mbeumo, Nosair Mazraoui and Amad set to leave the club. Despite potentially relying on the Academy during this mid-season exodus, it looks like Heaven, Leon, and Obi could still be shipped.
The young trio have found themselves lacking first-team appearances under manager Ruben Amorim this season and are now reportedly ready to further develop elsewhere on short-term deals. Leon, an 18-year-old full-back who joined United from Cerro Porteno last summer, is yet to make his first-team debut and has been linked with a move to Nice. This will give him six months of valuable first-team experience.
“I’m really happy, I think every player dreams of this,” Leon told Versus ahead of his move to Old Trafford. “When you turn professional, you have to adapt quickly. It’s a big opportunity.”
“Everyone thinks I’ll go out on loan, but I don’t think so. I’m going to crush it during pre-season and within a game or two I’ll already be playing with them.”
Haven has secured more first-team appearances since joining from Arsenal, but his position will also be in the spotlight. The 19-year-old has shown potential, but has only played 158 minutes this season.
Striker Obi, who also joined from Arsenal, burst onto the United first-team scene last season after impressing with performances in the youth team. Amorim later admitted pushing the forward at an inappropriate moment.
Obi played eight games for Amorim last season and has been forced to feature for the club’s under-21 team this season. The striker has not featured since the final game against Fulham.
Amorim believes that they failed to create the right environment for Obi to grow last season. “He played last year too, but I think it was too early,” he said.
“We didn’t have a team where you could put a young 16-year-old in there and not struggle. He’s one of those players, but he started too early. Sometimes it’s hard for kids to deal with that because they think, ‘I’m already here.’ We have to be careful about that.”
