Erik ten Hag has big call to make over two future Manchester United stars after awards

Perhaps one element of Erik ten Hag’s tenure that has not been touched upon much is his decisions regarding loans for young players.

He took a youth-packed Manchester United squad on his pre-season summer tour and gave minutes to almost all of them, now first-teamer Alejandro Garnacho ironically being the only player who didn’t get any due to standards breaches.

For the most part, all of the young talent sent out on loan have vastly improved, with some excelling. January movers Charlie McNeill and Charlie Savage both scored their first senior goals during respective spells at Newport County and Forest Green Rovers with Ethan Laird being a whole-season regular at Queens Park Rangers.

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Even Will Fish - who was sent off 17 minutes after coming on against Crystal Palace during the pre-season tour - is now a regular at Hibernian. But the loanee that is at the forefront of most United fans’ minds is Amad.

He will play in the Championship play-offs with Sunderland after bending in his 13th strike of the season during the 3-0 win at Preston which earned them a top-six place. The 20-year-old is starting to form into the prospect United had hoped for when he signed for an initial £37m from Atalanta in 2021.

He was recognised for his efforts at the Stadium of Light when he was awarded Sunderland’s Young Player of the Year last month. He was nominated for the Championship’s equivalent award too.

Meanwhile, Alvaro Fernandez picked up the same accolade at Preston, the left-back lining up against his United colleague in Monday’s clash. The award comes 12 months after winning United’s Under-23 Player of the Year.

The Spaniard grabbed six assists in 42 matches