Graham Kavanagh on deadline day dealings
United manager Graham Kavanagh spoke to us about deadline day on the way to Bristol on Friday afternoon.
He said: “The last few days have been incredibly busy because we had a number of things we wanted to get done.
“It’s been really interesting to be involved in it and we’re happy with where we are with it all. We’ve had a couple come in and a couple go out and we think the work we’ve done is of benefit to all concerned.”
“The two Manchester United lads come with the qualities you would expect from a club like that,” he explained. “Charni [Ekangamene] is a positive and aggressive midfield player who can go box-to-box or hold things together.
“I’ve watched him a number of times and he handles the ball really well. He’s very disciplined and I think he’ll be an exciting one for the team and the fans.
“Sam Byrne is the kind of striker who I think will come to us and do a really good job. He’s hungry and ready for this type of challenge and I’m sure he’ll come here and show everyone what he can do.
“I think Manchester United are really comfortable with their players coming here and they have shown more trust and faith in the way we do things by allowing these lads to join us.”
“We are still making phone calls and asking questions but I think we have probably done what we are going to do for today,” he continued. “Going forward we could still find that we look at one or two more loans or possibly even free agents and transfers.
“There are situations we couldn’t get done today, for a number of reasons, so we’ll look to keep going with those and see where it takes us. We’re very aware of the age of the squad at the moment and I think we would like to add some experience of league football to the mix. What we do have now is a lot of energy and enthusiasm and it’s up to us to harness that and get the best out of it.”
“Danny [Livesey] has gone to Wrexham and I think that’s a move he needed,” he said. “He’s been fantastic for this club, everyone knows that, but he hasn’t been playing too much at all recently. He’s been injured for a short period and we have had other options, but we have kept him involved with the squad at every opportunity.
“I felt we owed it to him, because of the person he is and because of how professional he is, to try and get him some games if we possibly could. We’ve talked to him about what could happen once this season is done and he wanted an opportunity to put himself out there and give himself every chance of pushing on with his career. Wrexham will be a fantastic move for him in that respect.”
“Prince [Buaben] was a slightly different situation for us,” he admitted. “We have had one or two issues with him with different things and I thought it would be better for the group we have, and what we are trying to do, if we allowed him to look around and move on.”
“The other one we were looking at was Tom Lawrence because he was fantastic for us,” he said. “We’re disappointed that we haven’t got him. It looks like he’s got a move to another club and we wish him well with that. He’s a great young player and we would have loved to have brought him back, but we think we’ve got players who can step up and do the job for us as we look for the results we need.”
