James Garner has long been touted as the heir apparent to Michael Carrick at Manchester United. But, thus far, the 19-year-old has managed just seven first-team appearances.
That is no surprise, given his age and the competition for places at Old Trafford. Yet Garner may be looking with interest at Nemanja Matic’s situation at the Red Devils.
After all, the Serbia international has gone from key starter to fringe player at United this season. With Fred and Scot McTominay in brilliant form, and Paul Pogba showing glimpses of his best, Matic has found game time hard to come by.
It will be interesting to see how long the £40million man (BBC) is willing to play second fiddle at United. With a contract until 2023 and a 33rd birthday on the horizon, he will want to play as much as he can while he can.
If Matic asks to move on in pursuit of regular starts, suddenly the door could be open for Garner to be a regular in the match-day squad. And that is where his current loan comes in.
Garner impressed in his first start for Nottingham Forest earlier this month and should feature regularly between now and June.
In short, he has the perfect audition for a United side with high hopes for the teenager.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made the Carrick comparison (MEN) and the man himself is now a coach at United. So a fine end to the current campaign in the Championship could open plenty of doors in 2022 and beyond.
A chance he must seize
Garner’s first loan spell this season started well but tailed off. Yet that is the risk for any player moving to Watford right now.
The manager who signs you is rarely the manager who stays for the long term. And so Garner discovered when he featured off and on for the Hornets.
Six successive substitute roles – and only 40 minutes of football in that period – led United to send Garner elsewhere.
At Forest, he has started as he will hope to go on.
From there, with Matic on the wane and a potential gap opening in United’s squad, Garner’s prospects really are endless.
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