Manchester United academy product Cameron Borthwick-Jackson has found himself in limbo recently. On a season long-loan at Wolves, a move which was supposed to help his progression, it has slowly turned into a nightmare.<\/p>\n
In stark contrast to this time last year, he has not played a first team game for more than four months. As a result, the defender has twice returned to Old Trafford<\/a> in recent weeks, to play for their under 23 side.<\/p>\n Luke Shaw had started the season in very impressive form, looking every inch the player United had forked out \u00a330 million for the previous summer. Previous concerns about his fitness seemed to have been forgotten with him bombing up and down the flanks. Unfortunately, he suffered a double break in a Champions League game against PSV Eindhoven. His season was over, and it left manager Louis van Gaal with a big selection headache.<\/p>\n With Daley Blind filling in at centre-back for most of the season, the manager tried various players without success. Marcos Rojo, right-back Matteo Darmian and even left winger Ashley Young were played there, with none of them convincing anybody that they were the long term solution. Step forward Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.<\/p>\n The Manchester born left-back impressed during a spell in early 2016, with the Red Devils suffering an injury crisis in defence. It looked as though he might be a good back up for Shaw when he returned. As well as being an able defender, his explosive pace meant that he was able to get up and down the pitch enough to support the forwards. His drilled method of crossing also proved a useful weapon to United\u2019s attack. In addition to his progression to the first team, he won the reserve team Player of the Year award.<\/p>\n He travelled to Wembley for the F.A. Cup Final. Although he did not the make the 18 man squad for the game itself, he could look back on an impressive debut campaign. With 14 appearances under his belt, it\u2019s probably safe to say he was optimistic about his future at the club. This would have been amplified when Jos\u00e9 Mourinho replaced van Gaal. One of the Portuguese managers\u2019 first acts at Old Trafford was to tie Borthwick-Jackson to a new contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n With Luke Shaw reporting fit for pre-season, it didn\u2019t raise too many eyebrows that Borthwick-Jackson went out on loan. It was rather surprising that, given his performances for United, no Premier League side came calling. The defender went, instead, to Molineux, with new Wolves manager Walter Zenga keen to add him to his squad.<\/p>\n Initially Borthwick-Jackson went straight into the side, but Zenga\u2019s time as manager was ended in November following a poor run of results. When Paul Lambert was appointed as his successor, the United loanee was immediately dropped. He hasn\u2019t featured for the first team since then. Lambert originally stated that his exclusion was due to the fact that he wanted more experience. Since then, he has publicly stated that Borthwick-Jackson must work harder<\/a> to get back into the team.<\/p>\n2015-16<\/h4>\n
Wolves<\/h4>\n