Bolton Wanderers say the defender thought he was returning to Plymouth Argyle on loan and the 21-year-old’s dad had to sit down when told Louis van Gaal was offering the deal

The reaction of Bolton Wanderers’ Andy Kellett was hardly surprising. On hearing Manchester United wanted him on loan after only 19 senior appearances – 15 of which were when farmed out to League Two’s Plymouth Arygle this season – the left-back thought it was a “wind-up”.

No, it was true. The United manager, Louis van Gaal, is an admirer and will assess Kellett when playing for Warren Joyce’s under-21s for the rest of the season. The clear message is that if he impresses, the move from Wanderers may become permanent.

Kellett has scored only one senior goal, for Argyle in a 3-2 win over Northampton Town, but it works as a telling snapshot of why United like him – and why the boy from Bromley Cross in Bolton appears an identikit of the ideal Van Gaal footballer.

Argyle are 1-0 up at Town on 13 December when Kellett receives the ball on the left touchline, about 40 yards from goal. Six seconds later Matt Duke, the home goalkeeper, has been beaten with a nonchalant flick of Kellett’s left boot from inside the area after some jet-heeled speed and a jinking run leaves four Town players trailing.

The word is that United have been monitoring him for months and that while Kellett will slot straight into Joyce’s squad, with the 19-year-old Saidy Janko going the other way on loan, there is, as Bolton’s manager Neil Lennon said: “An opportunity of a lifetime for Andy.”

That opportunity begins on Kellett’s arrival at United’s Carrington training base for the first time on Tuesday. The previous evening, at 10.30pm on transfer deadline day, only half an hour before the window closed, he was informed that instead of returning to Argyle, as expected, Old Trafford was his destination.

As Lennon said: “He thought he was going to Plymouth. I said: ‘Sorry, Andy, you’re not going to Plymouth, you’re going to Man Utd. He rang his dad, who had to sit down for a while to take it all in. Funnily enough, he had his mate with him and I said: ‘Bring him in.’

“This was about half 10 last night and his mate walks in with a Man Utd tracksuit on but the deal is done and Andy will be at Carrington today.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Andy Kellett, right, has played most of his senior football for Plymouth on loan from Bolton. Photograph: Tony Marshall/Getty Images

Last Tuesday Kellett lasted only 51 minutes of his sole Bolton appearance this season before being substituted, with his side losing 4-2 to Rotherham United. Now, opportunity knocks in an unforeseen way for him.

“We were aware of the interest last week,” Lennon said. “I know Warren Joyce likes him a lot. We were looking for a bit of pace in the team and Saidy Janko was a player we have had our eye on for a while, so [the chairman], Phil Gartside, got on the phone to United and they said we could have Janko but that they would like Andy Kellett.

“It is an opportunity of a lifetime for Andy and we were never going to stand in his way, regardless of what happened with Janko. Thankfully Janko is coming in, so it is a good move for us. We are sorry to lose Andy but it is a fantastic opportunity for him and there may be a sell-on if either side decides to make it permanent.

“We used Andy the other week at Rotherham and it was a difficult game to come into after Liverpool [in the FA Cup] and didn’t play as well as we had hoped. But he has been in the first-team squad since he came back from Plymouth and they were very keen to take him back again.

“But this came up and I spoke to [the Plymouth manager] John Sheridan and he was totally understanding about the whole thing.”

Kellett has recently opened a Twitter account. There is only one tweet. It appears to have been posted an hour or so before the news came through about the move to United. It simply says: “New Twitter!!!”

Now, for half a season at least, Kellett has a new, invigorating football life.