James Garner will seek loan move if he fails to establish himself as a regular under Ten Hag

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Manchester United academy graduate James Garner will seek a Premier League loan move if he fails to establish himself as a regular under Erik ten Hag.

The 21-year-old played an influential role in guiding Nottingham Forest back up to the Premier League during his season-long loan at the City Ground.

With Steve Cooper already signing Garner’s United teammate Dean Henderson on a season-long loan, the prospect of the England Under-21 international returning to Nottingham this season is rather slim.

But United’s number 37 is focused on becoming a regular under the former Ajax manager.

Garner has endured a frustrating pre-season tour, making just one substitute appearance under the 52-year-old which came in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa.

James Garner will seek loan move if he fails to establish himself as a regular under Ten Hag

Having had two seasons of being a regular at Nottingham Forest, Garner is keen to play regularly at Old Trafford off the back of his “perfect loan”.

Speaking via the Independent, the midfielder said: “For me now because I’ve played two seasons back-to-back, where I’ve been playing games non-stop, I don’t really want to stop that.

“I want to play week in, week out. That is of course what I want to do.

“I’m not too sure but pre-season has been good so far and, like I said, hopefully in the next two, three weeks – we’ve still got games left – I can show what I can do.”

United face Atletico Madrid in Olso, Norway, on Saturday and then face fellow La Liga side Rayo Vallecano the following day.

With the two-time Eredivisie winner likely to pick his strongest team for the clash against Diego Simeone’s side, Garner could start against Vallecano at Old Trafford.

Having not had the opportunity to make more appearances under Ten Hag during pre-season due to niggly injuries, Garner has spoken about the possibility of heading out on loan if he finds himself on the periphery at Old Trafford.

“I want to play for United,” Garner said. “Of course that’s obviously my aim.

“But I feel like if I’m not going to be playing as regularly as I would like to then I’m definitely open to going back on loan to a Premier League side.”

With United in the Europa League this season, Ten Hag will likely utilise his squad and rotate his first choice XI for the European games.

But after becoming accustomed to playing week in, week out, Garner’s ambitions at United are far greater than featuring in the European competition.

Garner added: “Europa League for me isn’t playing regularly. It’s only a small amount of game time from the group stages to the final, hopefully if we make it.

“I’ve had two full seasons now where I’ve played pretty much back-to-back every week, two or three times a week.

“So, for me not to do that now I think would be a step back in my career and that’s something I don’t really want to do at the moment.”