Wayne Rooney praises Teden Mengi as loan spell is cut short

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Teden Mengi’s loan at Derby County has been cut short, Manchester United confirmed on Monday.

Mengi picked up an injury which is not considered to be serious, but the recovery time would take him past Derby’s final game of the season in May.

Rams boss Wayne Rooney paid tribute to the young defenders’ efforts for his side.

Rooney was quoted by the club website: “He has been fantastic for us and we’ve seen him grow with each game.

“We will keep in contact with United and Teden about next season. It’s not too serious but he will not recover in time to play again.“

Mission achieved

Mengi went to Derby with the objective of playing competitive games at Championship level.

Considering most United loanees end up in League One or League Two, this was a big test for him, especially as at 18, he is at the younger spectrum of the players the club loan out.

Mengi ended up playing in nine Championship games, including seven as a starter.

It was not always easy, with Rooney’s Derby fighting to avoid relegation against teams which are vastly superior to them.

Mengi has been played at right-back, and centre-back, and he has had a man of the match performance, and games he would rather forget.

And that’s to be fully expected, for an 18-year-old playing in an unforgiving league in his first taste of competitive football.

Rooney’s comments suggest he is interested in bringing Mengi back next season, and this would make a lot of sense for United, providing the club record scorer is still in charge.

Going out on loan has certainly been better for Mengi than playing under-23 football, and he will be better off for this spell.

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