Manchester United have loaned out midfielder Matthew Willock to Scottish Premiership side St. Johnstone today. According to Sky sources, St Johnstone have sealed a move for Manchester United starlet Matty Willock on loan for the remainder of the season. Following the arrival of Alexis Sanchez, it didn’t look like United would be making any new high-profile additions on deadline day but the club is still working on some outgoings as evidenced by the deadline-day departure of Willock on a temporary basis.
In a recent interview after signing the Red Devils youngster, St. Johnstone boss Tommy Wright was quoted to have said: “I’m really pleased to get Matty who has been on loan at FC Utrecht. He is a midfielder who possesses a lot of qualities, very comfortable on the ball, physically as well. He’s comfortable playing as a holding midfielder or attacking midfielder.
“When you get someone who’s gone through the academy at Arsenal and Man United he’s going to provide real quality in the midfield for us. He will go straight into the squad for Saturday’s game at Hearts.”
The midfielder is highly versatile and can operate in a number of different positions at the centre of the park. At 21, he still has a lot to learn but has failed to break into Jose Mourinho’s first-team at Old Trafford so far. The Waltham Forest born midfielder has played for FC Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivisie after going out on loan last summer. He returned to Manchester this month but has now gone out on a six-month loan deal to Perth, Scotland to lace up for the Saints. It remains to be seen whether he can come back as a better player and can feature in Jose Mourinho’s plans for next season.
Manchester United are currently in second place in the Premier League table with a tally of 53 points in 24 league matches. In any other campaign, the Red Devils would be well in contention of winning the league but the record-breaking form of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City has seen them struggle to keep pace in the title race. The Citizens of Manchester are leading the Premier League by a massive 12 points with the Red Devils desperately trying to play catch up with their ‘noisy neighbours’.
The departure of Willock could turn out to be a wise move for all parties. The United midfielder could flourish if he gets some regular first-team football in the Scottish Premiership and going by the Saints manager Tommy Wright’s words, it seems that the club rates the youngster highly and plans to make full use of his services in the coming months. United will hope that he can come back stronger from his experience in Scotland and can produce the goods when called upon, ahead of their next campaign. Only time will tell what lies ahead in the future of the 21-year-old Manchester United starlet and if his loan move to St. Johnstone turns out to be a success or a bust.
