Cameron Borthwick-Jackson is among a list of nine players that have been released by Manchester United, and will officially leave the club at the end of the month.
SHOP NOW: Get the newest Manchester United kits from Adidas!
All nine are fringe or reserve team players, with Borthwick-Jackson the most high profile departure as a result of his 14 first-team appearances during the 2015/16 season.
The home-grown left-back, who joined United’s academy ranks aged just six in 2003, made the senior breakthrough under Louis van Gaal. However, a string of loans in the lower leagues – most of which yielded only a handful of appearances, means his last game for United was four years ago.
Earlier this season, Borthwick-Jackson saw a loan at League One side Tranmere cut short after failing to establish himself. A subsequent loan to League Two’s Oldham was then cut short by the coronavirus crisis when the bottom two tiers of the EFL were abandoned.
Belgian forward Largie Ramazani, who was on the bench in Kazakhstan when United sent a junior squad to face Astana in the Europa League, has also been released. Journalist Simon Peach has reported that he was offered a new contract but is likely to join a club in the Spanish second tier.
The news about Ramazani’s exit might come as a surprise given his impressive start to his debut season at Under-23 level only a few months ago.
Departing 23-year-old Demetri Mitchell falls more into the Borthwick-Jackson category. The winger made his first-team debut on the final day of the 2016/17 Premier League season but it remained his only senior appearance, despite returning to Manchester in 2019/20 after two loans in Scotland.
Aidan Barlow, Alex Fojticek, Ethan Hamilton, Dion McGhee, Kieran O’Hara and George Tanner are the six others who are being let go from Old Trafford this summer.
However, United will not simply cut ties with and have offered support to all outgoing players. Each has the option to return to the club’s training ground to maintain their fitness in pre-season ahead of finding a new team, while United staff have tried to organise trials where possible.
The club has also taken the admirable decision to retain any player under the age of 18 as a result of the crucial opportunities that youngsters were forced to miss when football was suspended due to the coronavirus crisis and the curtailment of the 2019/20 academy level season.
For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!
Source : 90min