As stated by the club’s official website, Axel Tuanzebe’s future at Manchester United is coming to a close as the club has decided not to renew his expiring contract.
The 25-year-old defender will be parting ways with the Red Devils when his current deal expires at the end of June.
Tuanzebe’s journey at United began when he joined the club’s youth academy at the age of eight. He progressed through the ranks at Old Trafford and earned his senior debut in 2017 under the management of Jose Mourinho.
During his time in the youth categories, Tuanzebe showcased his talent and was recognized with accolades such as the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award in 2014/15 and the Denzil Haroun Reserve-Team Player of the Year title for the year 2016/17.
His exceptional performances for United’s youth teams led many to believe that he would become a future defensive leader at the club.
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However, Tuanzebe’s senior career at United never gained momentum. Despite making only 37 appearances for the first team, he had the honour of captaining the club at various levels. Most of his time at the Red Devils was spent on loan spells.
One notable loan spell was with Aston Villa in the 2018/19 season, where he played a key role in helping them secure promotion to the Premier League.
After his impressive loan stint, he returned to Man United with a desire to establish himself and make a name for himself at the club.
At the age of 21, Axel Tuanzebe impressed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enough to be given the captain’s armband in a Carabao Cup match against Rochdale.
It seemed that everything was aligning for Tuanzebe to fulfil his potential and reach new heights at the club. However, a lengthy period of being sidelined due to injury disrupted his progress under Solskjaer.
Following his recovery, Tuanzebe was given a starting spot in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, which marked a high point in his United career. Unfortunately, things took a downturn from there.
He fell out of favour and struggled to regain his place in the team at Old Trafford. As a result, he returned to Aston Villa for another season-long loan in the 2021/22 season, but he only managed to make nine Premier League appearances for the club.
Despite subsequent loan spells at Napoli and Stoke City, where his performances were not particularly impressive, Tuanzebe has finally convinced Man United to release him this summer.
