“Gutted” – Man Utd silence on defender transfer frustrates

The decision of Manchester United to recall Ethan Laird and send him to Bournemouth has frustrated and gutted Russell Martin it seems in equal measure as he admits that he is having to re-think his transfer stance for the January window as a result of the change.

United confirmed to the Swans last weekend that they wanted to recall Laird and the move was confirmed yesterday as he departed the Swans and moved immediately to Bournemouth for the remainder of the season leaving a hole in Martin’s plans for the remainder of the season – a hole that he is now planning to plug in the January window albeit with an unexpected problem.

It is clear that the way the past seven days played out has frustrated Martin who took a gentle swipe at the Old Trafford side with a comment about their communication over the process but unfortunately this is a danger of the loan process in the same way as Cheltenham would be frustrated at us recalling Kyle Joseph.

“I’m very disappointed. Disappointed that we didn’t know much about it, or anything about it,” said Martin.

“It’s not a position we were looking to recruit in. The lack of notice was a bit of an issue, but it is what it is. That’s the issue with loan players, when you have a loan player and he does well.

“He’s spent a year with us [at MK Dons and Swansea] and I think he’s grown incredibly in that time. He’s been a really good performer for us this season, his first season in the Championship.

“But his parent club have decided it’s better for him to go and play in a slightly different position with a different club in this league who are fighting hard for promotion. That’s their prerogative. That is the danger you have with loan players.

“We’re gutted, on a personal level, we get on really well. It’s not a decision that was driven by him. He’s not looked to go, it was brought to him by the club.

“He’ll be a loss to us on and off the pitch. He has an infectious personality and he’s had some brilliant performances, but we are now in a position where we need to replace that, and it’s probably become a priority for us because we’ve lost a player who was playing week in week out.

“The rest of the plan outside that hasn’t changed in terms of where we want to add. Hopefully we’ll have some news on that very soon.”