After leaving Manchester United at the end of the 2022-23 season, Ethan Galbraith has reflected on his time at the club and his EFL journey.
Having shone for the Northern Irish team Linfield, Ethan Galbraith caught the attention of Manchester United, who joined their academy at the age of 16.
The central midfielder featured 33 times for the U18 side, scoring five and assisting five, while also featuring 38 times for the U21 side, where he scored five and assisted three.
After impressing in the academy, Galbraith was handed his first-team debut by Ole Gunnar Solskjær, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute in the Europa League against Kazakh team Astana.
In October 2020, Galbraith signed a three-year contract with United, with the option of an extra year, but after two loan spells at Doncaster Rovers and Salford City, respectively, he joined Leyton Orient in 2023.
Galbraith on his EFL journey
After spending two seasons at Leyton Orient, the 24-year-old joined Swansea City for £1.5 million in the 2025 summer transfer window on a three-year contract, where he has impressed.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Galbraith reflected on his journey up the EFL pyramid and his time at Manchester United. When asked about his journey so far, he said: “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.”
Galbraith reflected positively on his time at United, saying, “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.”
On whether he thought he left at the right time or not, he said, “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.”
Galbraith living up to lofty comparisons
Galbraith has been Swansea’s star performer in the 2025-26 Championship season, with it being thought that it is a matter of when rather than if he will be playing Premier League football in the near future.
While his natural position is that of a central midfielder, he has also impressed at both defensive midfield and at right-back, with his stats showing just how great a talent he is.
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According to FBref, Galbraith ranks in the 89th percentile for progressive carries with 2.09 per 90, in the 91st percentile for attempted passes with 66.17 per 90, and in the 83rd percentile for progressive passes with 6.4 per 90, all in a Swansea City side that are struggling slightly in the Championship, with the Welsh side currently finding themselves in 16th place.
Northern Ireland Ian Baraclough previously compared the 24-year-old to two legendary Spanish midfielders, saying that he was “our little [Andres] Iniesta or Xavi” after handing the midfielder his first senior call-up to the national team.
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