By Dan Coombs

One surprising Europa League omission: Dylan Levitt, so what's next?

If Manchester United go on to win the Europa League, Dylan Levitt will look back on his involvement against Astana last November and be proud he played a brief part.

He will also wonder where it may have gone wrong in 2020, that he did not even make the 30-man squad for the finals tournament set to commence next week.

Levitt was a notable absentee from the squad list announced by United this week, with the spare spot in midfield handed to Ethan Galbraith.

Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images

Let us look at this from a positive perspective regarding Galbraith first.

Gabraith has been down the queue, only coming on for the final two minutes of the match against Astana. He is a Northern Ireland international already, and at 19, he has his place in the squad on merit.

It may simply be that Galbraith has come back fitter, more motivated and sharper than Levitt, and he has been rewarded accordingly. There was only room for one of them.

For Levitt it’s disappointing

Since the Astana game nothing has gone right for the Wales international.

He was one of United’s most impressive performers on the night, and this is what has made his absence from the set up most notable.

A brief injury or illness prevented him from kicking on when United needed midfielders in December, and he has not been able to get near the first team since.

There have been no internationals for him to get involved with Wales’ squads, and he only played two under-23 matches in 2020 before the lockdown.

His record this season had been impressive, three goals and four assists in 12 under-23 appearances.

So what next?

There could be one simple reason Levitt is not included in the under-23 squad, and that could be because a loan move may be pending this month.

Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images

Clubs will be interested in taking him on loan, and at 19-years-old, Levitt needs a move even more than James Garner does, who at least is ahead of him in the first team queue.

If a loan move was not on the agenda before now, it needs to be.

Levitt’s absence from this 30-man squad drives home the point that he is not going to get many first team chances in the near future.

He is still a top talent who United should think highly of, but to move his career forward, a loan move is likely going to be his best option.

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