Ethan Galbraith makes frank admission about his United spell amid rise at Swansea | OneFootball

Swansea City midfielder Ethan Galbraith has made an honest admission about his time at Manchester United.

Galbraith at United

Galbraith joined United at the age of 16 and impressed in the youth setup, signing his first professional contract with the club in May 2018.

He progressed through the ranks, regularly featuring for the Under-18s and Under-23s. Galbraith made his senior United bow in November 2019, during a UEFA Europa League group stage match against Astana. He came on from the bench as a late replacement for Tahith Chong.

The appearance turned out to be Galbraith’s only competitive one for the Red Devils. Galbraith put pen to paper on a new three-year deal with United in October 2020.

He went out on loan to League One club Doncaster Rovers in the 2020/21 season. He also had a spell at Salford City before permanently exiting Old Trafford in 2023 to join Leyton Orient. He enjoyed a strong 2024/25 campaign, registering six goals and providing eight assists in 51 appearances.

After his standout displays attracted widespread interest, he secured a transfer to Swansea last summer and is now flourishing at the club and for Northern Ireland.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Galbraith reflected on his United career. He admitted that, ultimately, he wasn’t at the level required for the 20-time English champions and acknowledged it was the right time to move on.

Galbraith’s admission

The 24-year-old told Sky Sports, “I’ve really enjoyed it, everywhere I’ve been, you know, being at Salford, Doncaster, probably different ends of the table, you can take stuff from everything.”

“Like I said, you can take bits from every season, which has shaped me to where I am now, so yeah, my journey in the EFL, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

He added, “Yeah, it was unbelievable. Obviously, coming from Belfast, playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, on and off the pitch, United helped me massively.”

“You do want to break through there, but it comes to the stage where you know whether you’re going to be good enough or not. I wasn’t good enough to make it there, so you have to go elsewhere and try to make a career for yourself.”

Asked whether he left United at the right time, Galbraith answered, “Yeah, definitely, I had a few talks with people within the club who helped me quite a lot.”

“Between myself and the club, we knew I was going to have a career, but it just wasn’t going to be at United, so I had to drop the levels and sort of work myself back up at the minute.”

United are next in action on Sunday when they face Arsenal at the Emirates.

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