The young Irishman has been handed an opportunity at Manchester United, and must seize it.
If you don’t know the name Robbie Brady, then there is every chance you soon will.
He is just 20, and was voted the Irish under-21 international footballer of the year in February.
Brady spent last season on loan at Hull City in the Championship, where he impressed with his performances on the left wing for Nick Barmby’s side.
Now he has joined up with the Manchester United first team squad for the first leg of their pre-season tour in South Africa.
Ahead of the tour, which kicks off tonight, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has given him a real boost – indicating there is a place in his first team squad up for grabs next season.
But it won’t be easy; the position available is not in Brady’s preferred left-wing position, but at left-back.
Sir Alex Ferguson said yesterday: “Brady is an outside-left but we believe there’s a possibility he will develop into a left-back.”
United don’t even have a recognised left-back on the first stage of their pre-season tour, Patrice Evra will join up for the second stage in the Far East after featuring at Euro 2012, and Fabio da Silva has been loaned to QPR.
United have been linked with a move for Everton’s Leighton Baines as cover for Evra, who many argue is past it, but the fact is he is still at the club, and Ferguson is known for ditching his veteran players when he believes they are past it.
Evra would not remain to sit on the bench, so it is doubtful whether United will splash out the £17 million Everton are demanding for Baines’ signature.
Clearly United need a new face to provide competition at left-back for the upcoming season, but it would be a gamble to put all their faith in Robbie Brady as cover.
It is up to him on pre-season to seize his chance, and convince his manager he can be an answer, save the club millions, and make a name for himself.
Can Brady be an answer to United’s left-back dilemma?
image: © Gordon Flood
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