What Happened to Former Manchester United Player Brandon Williams

There was a time during Brandon Williams’ career when he looked to be the natural successor to Luke Shaw at Manchester United. Per The Athletic, the 13-time Premier League champions’ former chief executive Ed Woodward had notified people that Williams was their first choice for the left-back berth.

Woodward’s comments about whom the club’s priority left-sided defender was, which were kept in-house until now, occurred back in the 2019-20 season during a Europa League trip to Kazakhstan when they lost to FC Astana 2-1.

Now 24 years of age, without a club and at crossroads, the Crumpsall-born ace may be wondering if there is a way back. Williams, a once-promising full-back with bags of talent, racked up north of 50 appearances for his boyhood club but struggled to assert himself in senior proceedings.

A Carrington graduate who once promised the world, many fans of the Old Trafford outfit are wondering the same thing: what went wrong? Currently employed with a trial for dangerous driving on the horizon, it’s unclear whether he will ever return to top-flight action.

Man Utd Chiefs ‘Not Convinced’ He Will Return to Premier League

Ten Hag previously decided that he had no spot at Old Trafford

Per The Athletic, some Red Devils’ figures that are under the belief that Williams will not return to the highest level of football until his priorities are ironed out. Furthermore, the report claims that Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag had already decided, before he returned to Greater Manchester, that Williams was not a part of his future plans, with the club ‘alarmed’ at what they had heard about their employee.

It’s said that there was ‘evidence of a player who started to lose his way and was not listening to the right people’, while he was also ‘getting his priorities badly wrong after the money and stardom arrived’.

With Shaw perennially injured and Tyrell Malacia’s last outing for the club being at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, left-back is a problem area for Ten Hag and his entourage – but, despite that, the Red Devils’ boardroom bosses, including the ex-Ajax custodian, had no qualms in letting him go.

Williams’ Trial for Dangerous Driving is On the Horizon

The left-back has denied the allegations

Irrespective of what lies ahead of him from a footballing perspective, Williams has a lingering cloud hanging over his head. In March 2025, the ex-Ipswich Town ace is set to go on trial after he allegedly crashed his Audi S Line while inhaling ‘hippy crack’ laughing gas behind the wheel.

Williams pleaded not guilty to driving dangerously in Wilmslow, Cheshire in August 2023, while the defender – who was reportedly earning a hefty £65,000-per-week and earned his senior Old Trafford bow under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure – also denied driving without valid insurance.

A former international for England at Under-20 and Under-21 level, Williams was recently told by Judge Simon Berkson that his upcoming trial is expected to last three days and will begin on March 17, 2024. In the meantime, the Englishman was granted unconditional bail.

A Deep Dive into Williams’ 51-Game Man Utd Career

Defender had loan stints at Norwich City and Ipswich Town

Williams joined the club at the tender age of seven, fulfilling a childhood aspiration of playing for one of the biggest teams in world football, but his fever dream came to a lamentable end on June 30 when his Old Trafford contract reached its expiration date.

Five years after Manchester United’s aforementioned trip to Kazakhstan, when Williams was earmarked as their top choice by Woodward, and he’s now technically unemployed after no team picked him up over the summer after his contract expired at Old Trafford.

His release from Manchester United was an overdue mercy for all parties, given how his performances plummeted after being handed a new contract after his breakthrough term in 2020-21.

Philipe Clement’s Rangers – throughout the most recent summer transfer window – were interested in securing the signature of the left-back, though a reported move to Glasgow failed to come to fruition, leaving him without a club.

Whether Williams – who showcased his ability to play on either side of the Manchester United back line – returns to top-flight action next campaign remains unknown – but, for now at least, it’s difficult to foresee where he will end up next.

All statistics per Transfermarkt – correct as of 18/09/24.