What Role Will Tyler Blackett Be Playing for Manchester United in a Year's Time?

It is not going too far out on a limb to suggest that barring some sort of miraculous turnaround, Tyler Blackett will not be playing any role for Manchester United in a year's time.

The youngster has been on loan at Celtic this season, but his spell in Scotland could best be categorised as a disaster.

His last senior appearance was a 13-minute cameo in the Hoops' 3-0 win over Stranraer in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. Prior to that, he had not been involved with the first team since 5 November 2015. That game saw Celtic face Molde in the Europa League group stages and turned out to be the nadir of his young career so far.

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He was brought on as a substitute for the injured Jozo Simunovic after nine minutes. Sadly, he did not take his opportunity. According to Alasdair Lamont of BBC Scotland, "Blackett was involved in the concession of the opening goal."

Lamont writes, "His headed half-clearance was chested down by Elyounoussi and with no pressure applied to the winger, he was able to let it bounce before thumping it past a static Craig Gordon."

Blackett was then at least partially at fault for Molde's second, about which Lamont says, "[Daniel] Hestad showed greater desire than Blackett to stab the ball over the line, becoming the oldest player to score in a Europa League tie, at the age of 40." 

Despite having been brought on as a ninth-minute sub, Blackett was then replaced in the 68th minute.

"

Aaaaaaaand that's the last time you'll ever see actual Manchester United player Tyler Blackett play for Celtic.

— Findlay Mair (@fin1991Official) November 5, 2015"

Since then, he has been part of the Celtic under-20s development squad, featuring against Rangers' youngsters in March, for example.

All of this is a long way from the optimism shown on his signing. At the time, Celtic manager Deila said, per BBC Sport, "he's going to be important," citing his talent and versatility. 

He added, "He's a very good football player, first of all, that's the most important thing, and he has high ambitions. He wants to come and play and be important in a team, and at United he has been a little bit out of the team."

There were rumours that he had been recalled to United in January, but Celtic manager Ronny Deila told the Glasgow Evening Times, "We haven’t heard anything about him going back to Manchester United."

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That he stayed at Celtic in spite of his lack of first-team football and United's plethora of defensive injuries in the winter tells its own story.

Blackett's initial emergence into the United first-team squad was a surprise. As Rob Dawson observed for Bleacher Report in October 2014, "Blackett went on the summer tour of the United States as the fifth-choice centre-half, behind even Michael Keane in the pecking order."

Because of Louis van Gaal's penchant for using a left-footed centre half on the left-hand side of his centre-back pairing, Blackett was called up to cover an injury-hit defence. Often used in a back three, as was Van Gaal's wont at the time, he never truly looked comfortable at senior level. It was little surprise when he was sent on loan.

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Had he thrived in Scotland, gaining the kind of senior experience he clearly needed, then a different conversation may be in the offing. However, in his absence, both Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Timothy Fosu-Mensah have stepped up to the first-team picture with more assurance than Blackett ever showed.

Unfortunately, it is hard to see a place for him in the squad, let alone the first team. Blackett needs to get a permanent move to somewhere he can make a positive impact and rebuild his young career.