Jacob Devaney addresses his Man United future after standout St Mirren loan

Youngster Jacob Devaney has sent a clear message to Manchester United regarding his future following an impressive loan stint with St Mirren.

Flourishing

Devaney joined St Mirren in the closing stages of the January transfer window in a bid to gain regular first-team experience.

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A product of United’s academy, he impressed for the Under-21s in the first half of the season and captained the club in Premier League 2.

Devaney has done very well in the Scottish Premiership despite St Mirren’s woes. He wasted no time in staking his claim in the starting XI and has been a regular fixture in the side.

The 3-0 loss to Kilmarnock at the weekend marked Devaney’s 13th start for Mirren. He has netted one goal for Craig McLeish’s side, which came in the Scottish FA Cup.

After losing to Kilmarnock, St Mirren find themselves four points behind the Ayrshire side heading into Tuesday’s penultimate fixture of the season, a trip to Aberdeen.

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Devaney spoke to the BBC about his time at St Mirren and his future aspirations, which he hopes will be at United.

Devaney’s remarks

The 18-year-old told the news outlet, “St Mirren came about really late. There had been conversations with Travis [Binnion, who was in charge of United’s youth teams] and Stephen Torpey, the head of academy, who said I’d had a really positive start to the season and thought the next step was to go out on loan.”

“I had somewhere else lined up, which the club wanted me to pursue, but when I heard about St Mirren, it was an opportunity I wanted to take. I’ve grown up having an eye on the Scottish league and I thought it would be a great opportunity. I’m happy with how it’s gone.”

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When discussing the experience of playing against Celtic, Devaney explained that the contest bears a certain resemblance to United.

“It was the first game where we were driving up to the stadium and it reminded me a lot of Old Trafford. When I went to games there as a kid, you’ve got the stalls with the scarfs and there’s hundreds of people outside the stadium watching you walk in.”

“Playing in front of 60,000 is not something I had done before, but that was another thing that attracted me to this league. Once you get the first minute out the way and you’ve taken it all in, you blank it out. I’ve said that to my family, although they don’t quite understand how you can do that.”

“For the level I want to go and play at, playing in front of crowds like that is obviously going to help.”

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Devaney continued, “I see myself as a leader. If you put me anywhere on the pitch, I’d like to think I’d go and do a job. Coming into United as an under-nine, you play a bit of everywhere; centre-back, right-back, centre-midfield in my case. It’s the way we are brought up, so we can all play in different positions.”

The Irishman noted that games in the Scottish Premiership are a lot faster and more transitional in nature to what he was accustomed to at youth level.

Far from being daunted, he is relishing the challenge and is convinced it will hold him in good stead as his career progresses.

He said of his future, “At the minute, my main focus is on these remaining games and keeping St Mirren in the league, where they should be. But, if I am thinking ahead, those games in pre-season would definitely be something I would like to take part in.”

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“I feel I’m at a stage now where I do want to keep playing men’s football because I feel I’ve proved I can do it.”

“I believe that I can play for Man United. It’s something I’ve worked at from being knee-high, when I first started kicking a ball.”

Meanwhile, Michael Carrick and his players are next in action on Sunday when they welcome Nottingham Forest to the Theatre of Dreams.

Featured image Lewis Storey via Getty Images

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