Man United won’t allow any U19 or academy players to leave this summer

The news that Man United are keeping all of their academy players on past this summer will be a huge relief for many. It’s normal at the end of each season that football club academies will release a number of players at various age levels. A necessary process if not a particularly nice one.

With club finances being stretched further because of the pandemic, players might well have expected a bigger cull than usual, so having the Old Trafford outfit come out so unequivocally in support of all of their young players surely means they can have a relaxing summer.

“We took the decision, whilst people were on lockdown, that it just wasn’t right to release kids from the programme – and actually that we’ve got a role to play in the recovery,” United academy director, Nick Cox told the Press Association, cited by the Daily Mirror.