Manchester United have confirmed that Brandon Williams has joined Championship outfit Ipswich Town on loan for the 2023-24 campaign.
The 22-year-old is not in the plans of Red Devils head coach Erik ten Hag for the season and has therefore been allowed to depart in search of regular action.
There is believed to be the option to make the move permanent at the end of the campaign, and Williams has reunited with former Man United coach Kieran McKenna, who has been in charge of Ipswich since December 2021.
"It feels good to be down here and I can't wait to get started," the Englishman told TownTV. "I'm coming here to hopefully get into the team and play a lot of games. There is some very good competition, which is a great challenge, but I'm excited to meet the players and get started.
"I played a lot of games when I broke through at United and have had a couple of tough seasons, too, so it's good for me to get back out and start playing again.
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"Kieran was my youth team coach at United and from there we have had a great relationship. He has always had the standards of a coach at the top level and has had a big influence on me.
"He has always kept in touch with me to make sure I'm okay and I trust everything he says because he is great to learn off. I'm excited to work with him again."
Meanwhile, McKenna added: "We're really pleased to have Brandon here. He's someone I've known since a very young age and I've seen his journey and how hard he's worked to get to where he's got to.
"He's still very young and has a large amount of experience for a 22-year-old, but is coming off a season where he hasn't played many minutes and has had some bad luck with injuries.
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"He's a dynamic, athletic defender who plays with great energy and commitment and has good quality driving forward with the ball.
"He can go inside and outside from both wings and can pass and cross with both feet, he is an aggressive and positive defender who enjoys defending but can also give us thrust going forward from different positions.
"We think this is a good fit for our group and a really good step for him to come into our environment and culture, where he can work hard and get back to playing at the levels we know he is capable of."
Williams, who will wear the number 18 shirt for Ipswich, has made 51 appearances for Man United in all competitions, with 36 of those coming during the 2019-20 campaign.
The left-back only has a contract at Old Trafford until next June, but the Red Devils have the option to activate a further 12 months, which is likely to be the case in an attempt to sell him next year.
Matt Law
