Darren Fletcher explains Man United's loan system and what recall clause means for youngsters

Manchester United have an excellent track record of developing young talent and Darren Fletcher has now explained the loan system.

Darren Fletcher has confirmed every Manchester United loanee has a release clause that can be triggered after six months.

Fletcher, who won multiple major honours in his 342 appearances for United, was appointed as the club's technical director in the spring of 2021 and part of his role is helping maintain a link between the academy and the first team.

The former midfielder works closely with Erik ten Hag and football director John Murtough and in a recent interview with club media, he explained how the loan system works and revealed every player has a recall break clause.

ALSO READ: United takeover process has turned into a nightmare

ALSO READ: Arnold responds to request for takeover update

Many fans have wondered why United have not recalled Alvaro Fernandez from his loan at Granada with an ongoing injury crisis at left-back, but the MEN revealed this month that he could only be brought back in January.

Although United can't cut the loan move short whenever they wish, they could trigger Fernandez's break clause after six months.

Fletcher explained the loan system in more detail and he provided valuable insight into how the club deals with loanees.

"They're watched in every game, whether that's live or obviously on video," he said. "There's a report compiled after every game. I'm in constant contact with Will [Fish], I watch all these clips and WhatsApp him or give him a call.

"Les Parry is probably the one with the closest contact. He'll be up at the games regularly, with a few of our other scouts and loan scouts, and Les meets Will after the games, speaks to him, talks about his development plan and then that gets transferred back to the relevant people in the club. There's constant conversation around young players because it's a big part of the development.

"We all have regular meetings, so we have a regular pathway and player meetings, talking about squad planning, progression and the next stages. We talk about January and all of our [youth] loan players have recall clauses, six months into it. Not that that is the plan it's just for all eventualities really. So we'll talk about do we trigger that loan for the rest of the season or is there another plan?

"And that can be because they're not playing or because they are playing but they're ready for something different."

Fletcher continued: "So it's constant conversations really. Me, the manager and John [Murtough] will get together with other staff members, feed back the information from Les Parry and the reports about Will and how he is going on his loan, and take that into account when we're making decisions, from the first team down to Nick Cox in the academy.

"Everything is aligned and these are regular meetings that happen all the time but there are always lots of moving parts. Things change from week to week, month to month, and so it's important that we are in constant communication and trying to make the best decisions for Manchester United and, obviously, for the players."