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Manchester United recently released their retained list for next season and some names have caught the eye.
Anthony Martial and Raphael Varane will end their spells at the club, while Jonny Evans cemented his unexpected importance as the club announced they were in talks over an extension.
One player who has flown a bit under the radar because he is not currently with the club is Brandon Williams.
Once pegged as the natural successor or even competitor to Luke Shaw, Williams leaves with a whimper.
A succession of failed loan spells, injury problems and constant upheaval at Old Trafford led the player to his position.
After his departure was confirmed, Williams wrote an emotional post to his boyhood club on Instagram.
He said he had always hoped this would not be a place he would ever have to create and explained that he had made lifelong brothers at the club.
He thanked the fans, calling them the “backbone” of the club and signed off with the words “Once red, always red”.
United responded to the announcement, a rarity for the club, saying they would be following his journey closely from afar.
They wished him the best of luck in the future and said it was a privilege to see him grow from a boy to a man.
Below is the club’s comment on the post in its entirety:
“It’s been a privilege to watch you grow from a boy to a man, Brandon. We will closely monitor your next steps and be behind you every step of the way. Once a red, always a red.”
Williams will go down as a case of “what if?” at the club as he dropped Luke Shaw from the starting XI entirely at one point in his breakthrough season.
It shows how unpredictable the growth curve for youth can be and why so many things need to click at the perfect time for a youngster to have a great career.
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