Southampton are confident of signing Brandon Williams on loan, according to the Athletic.
They claim that the Saints want Williams in as early as possible in their pre-season schedule as possible.
Williams took part in Manchester United’s first day of training yesterday, with discussions over his future ongoing.
The report acknowledges that the deal is not done yet, with at least two major details to iron out.
The first is the loan fee that United are apparently set to demand.
That hasn’t been agreed yet and if it doesn’t get to what United want then the loan won’t happen.
The second is the wage contribution Southampton will have to pay.
They loaned in Takumi Minamino from Liverpool in January and paid his wages in full.
United will expect the same with Williams and again, that appears to be a deal-breaker.
Loan would be good for Williams
Williams came into the United team in 2019/20, when Luke Shaw was injured and did well.
But last season, he made just 14 appearances and that’s not enough for a player to continue their development.
Southampton need full-backs and will apparently give him plenty of first team chances on either side of the backline.
That’s what he needs now – a season of regular Premier League football to iron out his weaknesses and get used to what it takes to play every week in the top flight.
He’ll learn a lot on the training ground at United, but if last season is anything to go by, he won’t get enough starts and that risks stalling his development.
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