What Does the Future Hold for Nick Powell at Manchester United?

Nick Powell was all but forgotten at Manchester United. After a successful loan spell at Wigan Athletic and a spectacularly unsuccessful time at Leicester City, he succumbed to a serious injury.

In October 2015, Steve Bates of the Sunday People reported that Powell was "set to quit Manchester United—after growing disillusioned with football." 

Then, in November 2015, in an interview with the club's official website, United's under-21s coach Warren Joyce said:

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Nick's worked extremely hard It's been a testing time, as you expect when you're injured and obviously out for this amount of time with an injury. But his attitude has been outstanding in the gym and out on the training field. 

I think, to be fair, he is looking in the best condition he has ever been in his life. Hopefully, he kicks on with that now when the games start coming. There is no doubt how much talent he has got. Some of the stuff you see from him is outstanding. He's a high top-level talent so hopefully he can get a run of matches.

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A little over a month after that, Powell was back in the first-team picture, and he has been brought on as a substitute in United's two most recent games.

The timing of his reappearance was bizarre—with United desperate to turn around a losing position against Wolfsburg in order to retain their place in this season's Champions League, Louis van Gaal brought Powell on for Juan Mata.

That substitution may tell us more about how Van Gaal perceives Mata than Powell, though Van Gaal has clearly seen something in Powell, since he brought the 21-year-old on again when United were behind to Bournemouth—this time for Marouane Fellaini.

Back in November, Joyce said:

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We're hoping he will be able to push himself forward - either in the first team or out in the league again. He's had that already and is really too good for Reserves football. He has proved he can play in the Championship but, if he's got ambition, which I'm sure he has, then he'd want to prove to himself he can play in the Premier League.

That has got to be his aim. He's gone step-by-step to get to this stage now and that had to be the carrot dangled in front of him, the prospect of top-flight football in the future, so I am sure all those hours in the gym will be worthwhile.

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Powell's arrival at United came with some excitement. Signed from Crewe Alexandra, he scored a thumping goal on his debut against Wigan Athletic.

Perhaps the memory of that goal helped secure him a loan move to Wigan, where he shone as a forward. In March 2014, then-Wigan manager Uwe Rosler said of Powell, per Simon Bajkowski of Manchester Evening News, "I see Nick Powell more as a front player—in the wider areas, up front in a central position or in a two—than I see him as a midfielder."

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It was unsurprising that Rosler felt that way given that, as Bajkowski noted, he had scored 12 goals in 25 starts for Wigan by that point.

Powell's future looked promising, but his time at Leicester was much less satisfactory. John Percy reported in the Telegraph in December 2014: 

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Pearson has decided to end Powell’s season’s loan prematurely after the United midfielder’s failure to impress left Leicester’s coaching staff exasperated.

Telegraph Sport understands Powell has infuriated Pearson and his backroom team with his attitude in training and general timekeeping since joining on loan in September.

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That, in addition to Powell's drink-driving charge while still at Wigan, per Manchester Evening News, began to paint a picture of a player who would be difficult to manage and whose potential could go unfulfilled.

Now, though, he has shown Van Gaal a more positive side of his game. Following his two substitute appearances, he scored a brace for United's under-21s as they beat Leicester's Under-21 side 6-1 on Monday night.

There is a place in United's current setup for Powell. While Rosler may have had him pegged as a forward, Sir Alex Ferguson tended to play him as an attacking midfielder. While United are theoretically well-stocked with No. 10s, none of them have impressed much so far this season.

Wayne Rooney's poor form has been discussed ad nauseam, but Mata has hardly impressed at all in Rooney's absence. Other than the sumptuous through ball he played for Anthony Martial against Wolfsburg, his impact has been minimal, and he was almost anonymous against Bournemouth.

The Red Devils have struggled for goals almost all season, so if Powell can translate his good under-21s form into the first team, he can displace one of his more senior colleagues. For all Van Gaal's failings as a United manager so far, he has shown he is prepared to play young players if he feels that they are ready.

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Jesse Lingard is the best example of a youngster who has displaced more senior colleagues by showing impressive form.

That is the good news for Powell. The bad news is that staking a claim for a senior place and keeping it remains an enormous challenge, even though United are struggling. Firstly, it took a significant injury crisis to move him up the pecking order.

Secondly, the attacking positions are surely likely to be further strengthened over the next couple of transfer windows.

That means the window of opportunity for Powell to prove himself worthy of long-term consideration at United is probably quite time-limited. Once Rooney and Ander Herrera are back fit, there will be even more competition for the places he wants to occupy.

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Given how recent his return from serious injury is, perhaps he could stay at United as a peripheral figure this season, playing for the under-21s and challenging for first-team chances, then looking for a loan move in the summer to a Premier League side as Joyce suggested.

There is always the chance that he could prove himself invaluable to United in the meantime. The theoretical peak version of Powell—an attacking midfielder with a rasping shot, a keen eye for goal and a neat line in killer through balls sounds like a piece of the puzzle Van Gaal is missing.

Van Gaal's substitutions have been a source of confusion for much of the season, and analysing them has often just led to a slow, confused, shaking of the head. However, he is an experienced coach with a long history of success, so presumably there is some method to his thinking.

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In Powell's case, it is much to be hoped that the somewhat surreal timing of his return to the first team is a precursor for things to come. While his arrival did not bring about the required impact against Wolfsburg or Bournemouth—the Red Devils lost both matches—perhaps those games will be looked back on as appearances that foreshadowed something more substantial.

As ever, the future remains unknowable. On one hand, Powell has plenty of talent in a department where United are lacking. On the other, being able to show that talent at the highest level under the greatest pressure is an enormous challenge.

Van Gaal and United could do with it working out, but for now, that remains a long shot.