Krishnan Sreekumar
Defender Brandon Williams says there is ‘no point’ returning to Manchester United this summer without first-team assurances
Speaking to former Liverpool star Jamie Redknapp, via the Daily Mail, Manchester United defender Brandon Williams said there was no point in returning to his boyhood club in the summer if he is not afforded first-team football.
The player is currently on loan at Norwich City, who are battling relegation in a bid to stay in the Premier League for another season. Williams has been loaned out to the Canaries until the end of the campaign, after which he is expected to return to his parent club.
Williams told Redknapp – who won a League Cup with Liverpool – that there was no point in him heading back to United just to sit on the bench, as he was playing games now and that he loved the feeling.
“I’m playing games now and I love it. I can’t wait for the weekend so I can get to the stadium. There would be no point in me going back to United and just sitting on the bench.”
Williams came through the ranks at Carrington and graduated to the first-team squad under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but has been unable to nail down a starting spot for himself due to the heavy competition in the squad.
“I want to play”
The 21-year-old opted to go out on loan to newly-promoted Norwich for the entire campaign to play more regular football for the first team after he fell down the pecking order at his parent club behind Luke Shaw and Alex Telles for the left-back position.
Williams said that he wants to play and that he feels ready for the Premier League, but refused to commit his future at Old Trafford, saying that he could not say whether he would be at his parent club or somewhere else beyond the summer.
“I want to play and feel I’m better equipped for the Premier League after this experience. Whether it’s at United or somewhere else, we’ll deal with that in the summer. But I’ve got a job to do here at Norwich.”
United fans will be familiar with the Englishman, who broke into the first team under Solskjaer in the 2019/20 season to cover for Shaw, who was ruled out of action due to injury. The right-footed player performed well at left-back in Shaw’s absence and kept a steady string of appearances for the club.
However, he failed to nail down the spot as his own next season, and with the Manchester side signing Telles from Porto to provide competition for the position, Williams found himself relegated to the bench after he was seemingly a regular just the previous term.
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At Norwich, he has been a regular for the first team, playing nearly every game for the Canaries as they struggle to stay afloat in the English top-flight. Despite playing under two managers at Carrow Road already this term, he has not lost his grip on the left-back role.
Williams is clearly a talented player, but given the competition and experience at his parent club at the moment, he is likely to be relegated to the bench once again next season. The player has already hinted at a move away if he is not assured first-team football next term, and with Shaw and Telles still seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order at United, it remains to be seen what the future holds for Williams at United.
