Manchester United have been given an easy decision to make on forgotten centre-back

When it has come to the misfortune of being dealt bad luck, nobody has experienced more of it over the last two seasons than Axel Tuanzebe.

The Manchester United centre-back, who joined the club's academy at the age of just eight-years-old, has made just 18 first-team appearances since the start of last season because of a series of injury issues and being overlooked. After failed loan spells at both Aston Villa and Italian giants Napoli last season, he joined Championship side Stoke City in January with the ambition of getting his career back on track after a torrid 2022.

However, the defender's short-term stint in Staffordshire has not sparked the change in fortune he would have wished for. Injury issues have once again got the better of him, meaning he has made just five appearances for the Potters.

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Tuanzebe joined Stoke on the final day of the January transfer window, despite having only returned to training at Carrington in mid-January following a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury, and the Championship club was confident that they would be able to get a tune out of the centre-back during the second half of the campaign.

After needing a couple of weeks to build up his fitness levels, Tuanzebe made his debut as a late substitute during a 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town on February 15. That marked his first competitive appearance at first-team level since starting Napoli's Italian Cup defeat to Fiorentina 13 months earlier.

That cameo appearance against Huddersfield, however, failed to mark the beginning of a prosperous new chapter. He has played just four times since and has not played since the March international break as a result of another