Wales international Dylan Levitt in Charlton Athletic admission

BY MAX HALL

Manchester United midfielder Dylan Levitt has told the South London Press that if he plays for Wales at the European Championships, any Charlton fans tuning in will see a different player to the one who had his loan spell at The Valley cut short in January.

The Old Trafford youngster was due to spend the season with the Addicks but the deal was ended after just five appearances by the player, with former Charlton boss Lee Bowyer telling our paper that he thought League One had proved too physical for the ball-playing midfielder.

“I didn’t really get too many chances to prove what I could do there,” said Levitt today, from the camp in Baku, Azerbaijan, where Wales will take on Switzerland on Saturday.

The 20-year-old said he had benefited from spending the second half of the season at Croatian top-flight side NK Istra 1961.

“I think I’ve got a lot more physical,” he said. “And I’ve adapted to certain situations that maybe I wouldn’t have done at the start of the season. Obviously that comes with the experience of men’s football.

“The first part of the season wasn’t really too great because I didn’t play as much. I had an offer from Croatia for four or five months [after Charlton] so I took it. I felt it would be beneficial for me to get more game time and it’s helped me get called up for the [Wales] squad.

“At Charlton I didn’t really play, but I’ve built my confidence up [in Croatia] and come back more confident.”

Asked whether he had been tempted to stay within the familiar surroundings of Manchester United’s U23s after his disappointment in South London, Levitt said: “I was given a few days to think about [Croatia] and I thought about it for maybe one night. I thought: ‘I want game time, I want to be in the Euro team’.”

PICTURE: PAUL EDWARDS