Algeria schemer Abeid was billed as United’s future last summer after catching the eye in a pre-season training and made an early first-team breakthrough last autumn.
But starts have been hard to come by ever since and Alan Pardew pointedly admits that Abeid has tumbled down the pecking order in recent months.
Although the club still have high hopes for the youngster, they want to see more from him if he is to return to first-team duty.
The club were understood to be dismayed by Abeid’s reticence to go out on loan last season and Pardew is now trying to source the midfielder a Championship club to join before Christmas.
Alan Pardew: “Players have jumped ahead of him if I’m honest.
“That happens in football – it happened to me as a player. I remember Steve (Coppell) bringing a couple of players to Palace who jumped ahead of me and a younger player came up from the group.
“The only way to get that back is to fight and that’s what he’s got to do. He’s got to fight to try and get back into the team.
“If I’m honest, I’ve tried to loan him out and I think he should go out to the Championship, because he’s good enough to play in it.”