Manchester United appeared to concentrate on loaning players out in the January transfer window. The last few days of the month were especially busy for the Red Devils as they let go of a number of players on a temporary basis, including big names like Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek. The club had completed a half-a-season loan move for Axel Tuanzebe to Napoli early on in January though.
After struggling for playing time at Manchester United, Tuanzebe had joined Aston Villa on loan last summer. He ended up struggling there as well though.
And following Steven Gerrard’s appointment, he did not seem to be a major part of Aston Villa’s first-team plans. This led to Manchester United bringing Tuanzebe back from the Birmingham club and sending him out on another loan move, this time to Serie A giants, Napoli.
There, he has not made a great start to things in Italy either. As reported by Manchester Evening News, Tuanzebe has been left out Napoli’s Europa League squad.
The Manchester United player has been left out of Napoli’s Europa League squad
Tuanzebe’s omission from Napoli’s Europa League squad will surely come as a blow for the player as well as Manchester United.
Till now, Tuanzebe’s only start for Napoli was a Coppa Italia appearance against Fiorentina. In that game, their defence ended up conceding five goals. Not a great look for the Manchester United loanee to be honest.
As a result, Napoli were knocked out of the competition. And it is safe to say that their manager, Luciano Spalletti, might not have been impressed by Tuanzebe on that night, which could have potentially played a factor in him not being included in their Europa League squad.
Napoli next face Barcelona in the Europa League, which could have been a great opportunity for Tuanzebe.