Andy Kellett: Who is Manchester United's deadline day signing?
Manchester United fans who gave up on a miserly transfer deadline day last night will have woken up with more questions than answers this morning.
After a month of being linked with high profile moves for Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels and Southampton star Nathaniel Clyne, the club's only defensive recruit comes in the form of little-known Bolton Wanderers youngster Andy Kellett.
The 21-year-old full back arrived at Old Trafford on Monday night on loan until the end of the season, with United youngster Saidy Janko moving in the other direction, joining another loanee Ben Amos at the Macron Stadium.
Janko's departure and that of Belgian defender Marnick Vermijl - who joined Sheffield Wednesday on a permanent deal - suddenly leaves United's Under-21 ranks bereft of options at right back, with Rafael da Silva dropping into Warren Joyce's side in Monday's defeat to Fulham to fill the void.
A Twitter search of Kellett's name last night and this morning revealed the confusion over what is comfortably United's most unremarkable deadline day signing of all time.
Kellett has made just four senior appearance for Bolton, and in what is more of a damning indictment of the club's attitude to youth development rather than the player himself, he became the the first Bolton-born player to play for the club in eight years when he made his debut in April 2014. Following that debut against Leicester City, he struggled to impose himself on Dougie Freedman's first team plans.
Kellett was expecting to seal a late move on deadline day - to Plymouth Argyle. The defender enjoyed a decent three month loan spell at the League Two club earlier this season where he scored a fairly remarkable solo effort – as many United supporters found out this morning as they hammered his name into Youtube (two videos of the defender appear on the website, less than Andy Kellett the Ronan Keating enthusiast who boasts three).
As reported by the Bolton News, the change in destination for Kellett came as quite the surprise.
"I said, 'sorry Andy, you're not going to Plymouth, you're going to Man Utd,'" Bolton boss Neil Lennon told this morning's press conference.
"He surprised to say the least. He rang his dad, who had to sit down for a while to take it all in."
The chances of Kellett even coming into contention for a senior role this season are slim. There is no option for the defender to make the move permanent but his presence is likely to assist Joyce and the Under-21s in the remainder of their season.
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