Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has revealed that he stopped rising star Anthony Elanga from leaving on loan this month, instead making him a regular part of the first-team.
Elanga has appeared in six of Rangnick’s 10 games in charge, including successive Premier League starts within the last week. The young Swede also scored his first league goal of the season in Wednesday night’s win over Brentford, breaking the deadlock in the second half.
Elanga was on the fringes of the first-team at the end of last season under former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. But, having also featured in pre-season during the summer, he was then out of the picture and briefly dropped back down to Under-23 level, where he excelled.
The teenager was immediately recalled to the first-team for Rangnick’s first game in charge against Crystal Palace last month and has been included in every matchday squad since.
United recently refused to release Elanga for international duty with Sweden, which would have been his first senior call-up. That was a clear hint that the coaching staff believed he had a role to play for the club, while Rangnick confirmed that loan plans were ditched once he arrived.
“I must say from the very first day from my first training session, he showed up,” the United boss commented after Elanga’s performance against Brentford.
“l had heard his name before and I was in my hotel room watching videos of him on YouTube, I thought this boy was really good. He was almost on his way out on loan. I told him: ‘You will not go out on loan, you will stay here.’ He has developed in training.”
United have already sent homegrown defender Teden Mengi on loan to Birmingham for first-team experience so far this month. There were also plans for Amad Diallo to join him at St. Andrew’s but the two clubs were unable to finalise the proposed deal.
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Source : 90min