Manchester United’s Ethan Laird has taken London by storm as he is currently impressing during his loan spell with Queens Park Rangers.
Laird has played every minute since joining the West London club and has a goal and assist to his name in seven appearances so far.
Impressing both fans and his manager, the youngster was recently named Man of the Match in QPR’s draw with Stoke City.
🙌 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗪𝟭𝟮 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗠 🙌 @EthanLaird
Chosen and presented to you by Simon Mellinger from Hatton’s of London! 👊#QPR | #QPRSTO | @HattonLondon pic.twitter.com/UEyHjxQUNS
— QPR Corporate (@QPR_Corporate) September 17, 2022
QPR’s social media team were also keen to praise the right back for his previous performance against Millwall with their official twitter account saying “We need to talk about 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 right-back. Another 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 performance from Ethan Laird.”
The Loftus Road faithful have also been singing the 21-year-old’s praises with one fan on Twitter saying, “Ethan Laird is my new hero.”
While another said, “Can we just take a minute to ask ourselves how we managed to loan in Ethan Laird? The more I watch him and the more I think about it the more it baffles me. The guy’s mustard.”
In response, Laird was compared to another former QPR loanee in Kyle Walker. A current England international, Walker has gone on to have a successful career which United fans will be more than happy to see Laird replicate.
Laird is also impressing in terms of statistical measures as he currently ranks fifth in Whoscored’s ranking of Championship fullbacks with an average rating of 7.05.
With QPR utilising the United academy graduate in a right back role, the experience will serve him well when he returns to United next season.
Having previously been used as a wing back for MK Dons and Swansea, Laird moved to Bournemouth in the second half of last season to get experience in a more conventional right back role but unfortunately spent much of his time on the treatment table.
But with the experience gained at QPR now clearing up the concerns regarding the defensive side of his game, Laird looks ready to step into Erik ten Hag’s side as backup for Diogo Dalot going forward.
With Victor Lindelof and Tyrell Malacia filling in at right back in recent weeks, a new option for the position is certainly needed as Aaron Wan-Bissaka looks to be out of favour with the new manager.
United have been linked with the likes of Denzel Dumfries of Inter Milan and Monaco’s Vanderson but these options will not be cheap. And Laird could prove to be just the solution United need.
