Opinion: Loan Option – Axel Tuanzebe

Considering the transfer window is yet to officially open, the market is moving fast and despite the first few weeks of the off season being interesting recruiting David Stockdale and with continued speculation about John Terry’s future, things have started to slow. Now, it does seem that we have a bigger kitty this time around. I have no idea how true this is but the links we are making and the speculation surrounding the club are with money signings. In the Lee Clark era if we are able to cast our minds back, we had loans of Tyler Blackett and Jesse Lingard purely because we didn’t want to splash the cash.

Now, I am all for spending money on players. I don’t think any fan would disagree. But what I must say is that I think the loan system can work really well. Just look at Tammy Abraham’s impact at Bristol City last season or even Jon Toral when he played for Birmingham City having been loaned out by his parent club Arsenal. The loan system is admired and with Harry Redknapp at the helm, I can’t see it being hard to attract players.

As an avid watcher of youth football, I wouldn’t want us to being in a loan player when we have a youngster at the club who would get pushed aside. For example, I believe that Josh Cogley can make a big impact next season so I wouldn’t want to bring in someone to displace this. I am also aware that certain positions we are already strong in. For example, I am a massive fan of Oli McBurnie at Swansea having seen him as a 16 year old playing in the Milk Cup for Manchester United’s youth side. But he is a tall, target man and I believe we already have these kinds of players at the club so it would be pointless.

One man that I think could fit in well is Axel Tuanzebe from Manchester United. He has made the odd first team appearance for Manchester United in the last campaign but I am highly confident that if loan offers came in especially from Birmingham City, it would be hard to reject. For someone who looks so slight, I have seen him barge men twice his size off of the ball. I honestly do not know how he does it but for a young man his strength is certainly there which is often lacking with youth players. I also think that he is one of the smartest defenders in the game. Now, you do need some players that just dive in to win the ball such as John Terry or Phil Jones but Axel reads the game so well that he often cuts the ball out with ease. He makes the game look easy and I think with a bit of confidence, he can be a top player and he already is a great player.

He is a centre half by trade and I think we do need cover there especially if the Terry deal falls through. We have Robinson who is ageing and won’t be able to play every game and Spector left last season without being replaced albeit Shotton who is a fullback by trade fitted into that position nicely. I do believe that we need another centre half though because injuries and suspensions do occur and it would benefit both parties.