By Sam Preston

Wood says Mengi will likely leave United on loan in January

Talented defender Teden Mengi spent pre-season with the Manchester United first team.

He did not leave the club on loan and has captained the Under 23 side in seven of their Premier League 2 matches this season.

Mengi spent the second half of the 2020/21 campaign with Derby County on loan.

And Under 23s manager Neil Wood says that Mengi will probably depart on a temporary basis once again in January.

As per the Manchester Evening News, he said: “I’m not sure if the chance was there for him to go out on loan [in the summer] or not,”

“But it is one of them where he spent pre-season with the first-team, he didn’t end up going out on loan and he’s come to pick up game time with us.

“I think for him it is just important he keeps getting game time, he keeps himself fresh and by January his pathway might change. He might end up going out on loan which I think would probably be the case.

“It is important he gets his confidence, he gets himself playing right and he is making himself looking a good player like he has done with the U23s.”

How good is Mengi?

In September last year, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said of Mengi: “he has definitely impressed me. Ajax made Matthijs De Ligt captain when he was 18. Teden Mengi has something special in him.

“It is about picking the right moment to give him a chance. You have got to make sure he’s ready for it.”

Wayne Rooney was Mengi’s manager at Derby before injury cut short his loan deal and said in April: “He has been fantastic for us and we’ve seen him grow with each game.“

He also trained with the England senior squad, during the October international break.

It is important he picks the right loan move in January and it will be interesting to see which level United choose to send him to.

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Sam Preston

Sam Preston is an NCTJ gold standard news and sports journalist who studied with the Press Association. He also has a 2:1 law with French law degree from the University of Birmingham, which included a year studying at Bordeaux Montaigne University. He is an FA Level 1 football coach who appeared on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show in 2018 and has also written digital football content and match-day programme pieces for Colchester United, Mansfield Town and Stockport County.