According to the Daily Mail, Derby County have agreed a loan deal for Manchester United defender Teden Mengi until the end of the season.
The England U18 international has been training with United’s first-team of late, and the next stage of his development is to spend time out on loan.
Derby are currently short on senior first-team members following a flurry of activity.
George Evans is set to join Millwall, while Morgan Whittaker is to move to Swansea City.
The injury to Krystian Bielik is expected to be long-term, and both Duane Holmes and Mike te Wierik both left Pride Park earlier in the transfer window.
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Mengi will provide competition for defenders Matt Clarke and Andre Wisdom, with United manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer claiming the youngster is a special talent.
“It’s different trusting defenders on the big stage, of course it is. You’ve got to make sure he’s ready for it, you see examples of Ajax, who play in a different league but Matthijs de Ligt, they made him captain when he was 18. You can see something special in them. Teden’s got something special in him. It’s about picking the right moment to give him a chance. Brandon Williams did exceptionally well last season, coming in as a defender.”
Solskjaer compares Mengi to Matthijs de Ligt who cost Juventus some £67.5 million.
Mengi clearly has an abundance of potential and he made his first-team debut for the Red Devils in the Europa League encounter with LASK back in August.
Derby manager Wayne Rooney has been hopeful of adding players before the deadline.
A new defender to provide competition was always a possibility, and it allows the Rams boss to be flexible and switch to a back three which he has done twice in recent games.
Derby will also surley look to add another wide player and striker, while Bielik’s injury could see a holding midfielder also be included ahead of Monday’s deadline.
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