Manchester United: U21 skipper Tom Thorpe set to leave the club on a free transfer

Manchester United defender Tom Thorpe is reportedly set to leave the club on a free transfer after failing to break into the first team. He will become the second departure of the summer after Radamel Falcao returned to AS Monaco after an unimpressive loan spell.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the United U21 skipper's teammate Sean Goss wished the defender 'all the best' after their final game of the season, and after seeing players younger than him get a first-team chance ahead of him this campaign, Thorpe is ready to leave the club in search of first-team football.

Louis van Gaal has integrated a number of youth team players into the senior squad this season, with defenders Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett getting a regular run in the first-team at the start of the senior due to injuries to senior stars.

This continues as the season progressed with midfielder Andreas Pereira also getting a run out during the Red Devils' Capital One Cup loss against MK Dons.

McNair has impressed the manager the most and he continued with the first team and made further appearances during the course of the season with the Dutchman even declaring that the young English defender could be United's right-back for the next decade.

The above mentioned trio have all been handed new contracts, but Thorpe has been ignored by the manager despite leading the reserves to the Barclays U21 Premier League trophy, and this has prompted him to leave the club in the summer.

The 22-year-old defender, who played a mere 111 seconds for Van Gaal's team, has spoken of his desire to play first-team football after seeing many of his colleagues get their opportunities.

"Yeah, definitely," Thorpe said, when asked about playing first-team football.

"You see the likes of Tyler and Paddy who have gone in and played, so you hope you can play yourself and you want to prove yourself," the young Englishman explained.

"I want to play first-team football, so hopefully I can look forward to some of that in the future."