United youngster Max Taylor on trial at Portsmouth

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This is the time of year where clubs give the green light to young players whose contracts are expiring to look elsewhere to secure new deals.

Manchester United have allowed Max Taylor to go on trial at Portsmouth, with his contract expiring.

Portsmouth News report Taylor played 90 minutes of a reserves game and ‘impressed with his range of passing’ in his trial match.

The MEN recently reported Taylor is one of four young players who will be released this summer along with Arnau Puigmal, Connor Stanley and Paul Woolston.

It’s not a surprise in Taylor’s case. The centre-back is 21 and is nowhere near the United first team at present.

Taylor has been on loan at Kidderminster in non-league, but his season is over after the division he was playing in was halted due to Covid.

He recently returned to United’s under-23s and featured in a 2-1 win over Southampton last month.

Portsmouth are sixth in League One and especially if they can win promotion via the play-offs, they would be a very good landing spot for Taylor.

He had a short trial at MK Dons last summer and was close to signing for Macclesfield before that deal collapsed due to the club’s financial problems.

In the end he had to settle for Kidderminster in non-league, and while their season ending early was obviously frustrating, it has allowed Taylor to focus on the next chapter in his career and take this opportunity of going on trial.

It certainly sounds as though Taylor has made a positive early impression, and if he can secure a move for when his United contract ends on June 30, it would come as a relief.

Finding clubs as free agents can be tricky, with the players released by United last summer taking differing lengths of time to secure deals. Many of them are at League One clubs.

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