Manchester United defender Brandon Williams is reportedly set to join Premier League newcomers Norwich City on loan this summer.

What's the story?

According to well-known journalist Zach Lowy, the versatile 20-year-old will depart Old Trafford over the coming days in search of regular first-team game time.

He tweeted: "Brandon Williams is set to join Norwich City on loan after Southampton refused to pay Manchester United’s £2m loan fee demands, per Sunday Mirror. Will be interesting to see if this has any implications for Diogo Dalot’s future at Manchester United."

He's not good enough

Williams broke into United's senior setup during the 2019/20 season, making 36 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils.

However, he failed to build on his initial success last term, with the improved form of Luke Shaw, the arrival of Alex Telles and the consistency of Aaron Wan-Bissaka forcing him down the pecking order.

After just five starts in all competitions in 2020/21, Williams now appears to be closing in on a temporary move away from his boyhood club, and it could be the best solution for all parties.

In truth, the £9m-rated youngster hasn't shown enough quality during his limited time on the pitch to warrant a place in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's starting XI.

As per fbref.com, Williams won 1.22 tackles per 90 in his 14 outings last term, while United's first-choice full-back's Shaw and Wan-Bissaka completed 1.53 and 1.57, respectively.

Shaw and Wan-Bissaka also made more blocks, recording 2.04 and 3.24 compared to Williams' tally of 1.95. And they excelled in an attacking sense as well.

While Shaw recorded a successful dribble percentage of 64.8% and Wan-Bissaka 65.5%, Williams lagged behind with a tally of 44.4%, highlighting his struggles in the final third of the pitch.

At 20, the Englishman has plenty of time to grow and develop and perhaps become a crucial player for United in years to come, but at this moment in time, his career would certainly benefit from some time away from the Old Trafford spotlight as right now, he simply isn't up to the challenge.

Under Daniel Farke at Norwich, Williams will be able to hone his skills without the added pressure of playing for the 20-time English champions and he will have a chance to return to Manchester as a much-improved player in 12 months' time, but quite frankly, we aren't holding out much hope for him at this point.

Solskjaer is right to let him go on loan and in truth, a sale would have been fully justified too. Axing him from the squad, at least for this season, is absolutely the correct call.

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