Manchester United have allowed a number of young players to leave the club in recent times and one has recently became an international star.
Breaking into the Manchester United first team is the dream for anybody in the famed academy.
United have been a leading force in English football when it comes to promoting players from the youth ranks.
More than 250 academy players have made first-team debuts at United with Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo shining examples of the academy success.
Sadly, not everybody can follow that same path and many youngsters have to leave United to shine elsewhere.
Maxi Oyedele on Manchester United exit
One such case saw Maxi Oyedele leave United over the summer.
The Salford-born talent joined United from Burnley as a kid and spent more than 10 years in the United ranks.
Oyedele was hailed as a ‘wonderful’ talent by Troy Deeney during a loan spell at Forest Green Rovers but United decided to let him go.
Oyedele was sold to Legia Warsaw with United holding a ‘substantial’ sell-on clause as part of the deal.
The midfielder has now spoken to Sport Bible about his decision to leave United and take his talents to Poland.
Oyedele noted that coach Darren Fletcher spoke to him and called his departure ‘unfortunate’.
Fletcher feels that Oyedele is going to become a ‘top player’ and leaving United for Legia would ultimately help him get there.
Oyedele claims to have had no other conversations with key figures at the club before leaving, so really appreciated Fletcher’s words.
“On my last day, when I was going back to my car, I did speak to Darren Fletcher. He said to me, ‘It’s unfortunate to see you go. But I know this next step is going to be really good for you. I want you to just take it with both hands. I know you’re going to be a top player and play at the highest level — just use this platform that you’re going to have to get to that point.’ He also said he would watch out for me. I appreciated that,” said Oyedele.
“But in terms of a conversation about why, there was none of that. Obviously, there were a lot of new first-team staff at the time and a lot of changes at the club. It was all a bit new. I was just there to work hard and train. And that was it,” he added.
- READ MORE: Bruno Fernandes shows how highly he rates Maxi Oyedele with gesture after Portugal vs Poland
Oyedele already an international after leaving United
Oyedele was born in Salford but had actually been representing Poland at youth level before leaving United.
The move to Poland will have massively appealed as a result and Oyedele was given almost immediate justification.
Oyedele was called up by Poland at senior level in October and featured against both Portugal and Croatia.
The 20-year-old appears to be in the immediate plans for Poland, but they would have also been wary of losing out on Oyedele to England or even Nigeria down the line.
An ankle injury has impacted Oyedele’s rise at Legia but there should be more caps to come if he shines – just as Fletcher predicts.
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