After impressing on loan at Aston Villa last season, Man Utd youngster Axel Tuanzebe would have hoped for a chance to shine at Old Trafford this year.
Having featured in pre-season and given he still remains with the Red Devils ahead of the transfer deadline, it would have seemed possible.
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However, the £80m signing of Harry Maguire from Leicester City earlier this week, as reported by BBC Sport, will undoubtedly push him further down the pecking order at United, raising question marks over whether or not he will have enough playing time to build on his impressive form for Villa.
Competition for places is fierce in that department, with Victor Lindelof, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly all vying for a starting berth too, but Tuanzebe appears to have a role to play moving forward.
According to The Sun, Solskjaer is keen for the 21-year-old to stay with the side this season and given Man Utd will be trying to compete on multiple fronts with the Premier League, domestic cup competitions and the Europa League, the Norwegian tactician will need to rotate and call upon depth.
That’s where Tuanzebe could come in and it will give him a chance to stake a claim to be a permanent fixture in the side, but ultimately it will be tough for the youngster to spend time on the bench having been so crucial to Villa’s successful promotion push last season.
Nevertheless, it’s arguably a show of faith from Solskjaer that he would now prefer to keep him in the mix rather than ship him out on loan again, with a return to Villa said to have been a possibility.
That gives Tuanzebe a chance to impress in training and remain in Solskjaer’s thoughts, but time will tell if that’s a positive thing, or a source of frustration if he doesn’t manage to displace his teammates in the starting XI.
