Dylan Levitt’s form has been a huge boost for Dundee United.
What a great signing he’s been on loan from Manchester United, capped by such a key goal in Saturday’s mammoth win over Motherwell.
I can’t help but feel, though, that while his impressive performances have pushed the Tangerines into Europe, it also means the likelihood of him sticking around becomes less and less.
They might not be 100% guaranteed a finish in the top five just yet but they’ve given themselves the breathing room they needed.
United are in a really good position, it’s now just about getting over the line.
Big hole to fill
And they have a lot of thanks to do to the young Welshman running their midfield.
He’s been excellent and adding goals to his game is a huge bonus, too.
Levitt uses the ball so well and it’s been obvious when he’s been out how much United miss him.
That may be an issue in the summer.
Because the worry, to me, is: he isn’t signed for Dundee United, he’s only on loan.
Though he may still stay with the Red Devils, his contract at Old Trafford is coming to an end and I read he said positive things about staying at Tannadice.
That’s great to see but the kind of form he’s shown in tangerine will bring other offers.
Offers that price Dundee United right out of the market.
That will leave Tam Courts and the club with the problem of how to replace him.
It really won’t be easy to do that, either.
Trump card?
Fingers crossed the promise of European football might just be the thing that gives United an edge over other suitors.
It all depends on the player.
Playing in Europe, though, is not something every pro footballer gets to experience, it’s a rare thing, on the whole.
It could just be United’s trump card this summer.
I hope so, anyway.
He was very good at the weekend but I thought the balance of United’s midfield was a lot better too.
Mulgrew move
Credit to Courts for moving Charlie Mulgrew into midfield.
I think that helped the entire team and Mulgrew himself.
I’ve felt over the past few weeks, though he’s been a big player, he’s slowed the build-up play down a fair bit.
Something needed to change and it was a clever move by the United boss.
It brought Mulgrew’s experience and composure into the middle.
But there was energy in there too from Levitt and young Archie Meekison.
And it allowed Lewis Neilson to get a chance in defence, also.
It worked well and United got a much-needed clean sheet.
Job done
It wasn’t a classic performance – not many have been this season – but it got the job done.
You can’t really grumble with that.
A lot has been made about the quality of the league this year but United need to ignore all that.
They look good for a fourth-place finish despite not playing that well this season.
Imagine what will happen when they do start playing well…
