Manchester United loans chief Les Parry admits they're now studying lower league clubs with the view to placing their young players with them.
Parry is extending his network of contacts at clubs and doing background checks to deliver valuable information on lower division teams who could make approaches for the club's youngsters in the future.
“We're building a database," he told Inside United. “Certainly with the north-west clubs and I've been to the likes of Fleetwood Town and Wigan Athletic. I'll visit them and have a word with the manager, find out their philosophy and look at the facilities. So we can then be more prepared. It's important we understand the physical environment. Some of our players wouldn't thrive under a certain type of manager and we're trying to take more control of it.
"When you think about it sensibly, the chances of an ideal club coming in for your specific player are pretty slim. So we need to be proactive when we identify a player who needs to go out on loan for his development and target clubs where we know he will get the right set of experiences."