Manchester United technical director Darren Fletcher has confirmed that James Garner will be granted the opportunity to impress during pre-season ahead of the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
The United academy graduate, who turns 21 later this month, is currently on loan at Championship side Nottingham Forest. He re-joined the City Ground club on a season-long loan deal back in August and has played a key role in their transformation this term under Steve Cooper.
Forest were bottom of the Championship table after their first seven matches, meaning former boss Chris Hughton was relieved of his duties in September. However, they have stormed their way up the league under Cooper and now find themselves just three points shy of the play-off places.
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Garner, who signed a new contract at Old Trafford last summer, has played a formidable role in their season of two halves, scoring three goals and claiming two assists. He has also become the heartbeat of their midfield, so much so that United technical director Fletcher has confirmed that he, with several other youngsters currently out on loan, will get a chance to impress at Old Trafford next term.
"I'm working closely with Nick Cox, as head of academy, to look at the long-term strategy for bringing players through," Fletcher said, speaking on Tuesday. "We have to manage the balance between allowing them to develop and creating the right steps for that, without piling the pressure onto them.
"Along with Nick, I'm looking at how we best use the loan system to give academy players invaluable experience at other clubs. We currently have 13 young players and academy products on loan and playing regularly in other divisions or leagues.
"Hopefully we'll see players like Brandon Williams, Teden Mengi, Jimmy Garner, Ethan Laird, Tahith Chong, and Amad Diallo reap the benefits of that. All of them are doing really well on loan and we're excited to bring them back in pre-season to see how they fare with our first-team players."
The news of Garner being set to be integrated into the first-team fold next season has been hailed by United's supporters. They have kept a watchful eye on his progress this season and have been impressed by his performances.
Below, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what they have had to say in response to Fletcher's admission.
As you can see by the messages displayed in the tweets above, the prospect of Garner being included in United's plans during pre-season has been well received. However, the final decision, of course, will rest with the Reds' next manager.
If Mauricio Pochettino is successfully installed as United's next boss, that could only strengthen Garner's first-team prospects. The Argentine is a big believer of promoting from within and developing English talent.
This season, to date, Garner has made 31 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals and grabbing three assists. Four of his goal contributions have come in 2022, suggesting that he is going from strength-to-strength the more games he plays.
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