Manchester United will hand a new contract to David de Gea, but his competition to be the starting goalkeeper next season could come from within the club.
United have De Gea as number one with veteran Tom Heaton in reserve alongside Jack Butland, who arrived on loan from Crystal Palace in January after Martin Dubravka returned to Newcastle.
United are in the market for other goalkeepers and have been assessing their options, including the likes of Swiss veteran Yann Sommer, who is expected to leave Bayern Munich this summer, and Anderlecht’s young Dutch keeper Bart Verbruggen.
They have also looked at Porto’s Diogo Costa and Brentford’s David Raya, but with De Gea’s extension in the offing it remains to be seen if they will spend big on a new goalkeeper.
That’s where Matej Kovar comes into the equation.
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Sources have told 90min the 22-year-old is under consideration for a place in the first-team next season after emerging as one of the best young keepers in Europe.
Kovar has been with United since 2018 after joining from FC Slovacko. He has never played for United’s first team but was involved in the Champions League squad under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He has tasted first-team football during loan stints at Swindon, Burton and now Sparta Prague.
Kovar has enjoyed a brilliant campaign in his homeland with Sparta, who are top of the Czech First League table and hoping to claim a first title in nine years. 90min understands United have been keeping close tabs on Kovar, particularly in recent months, and the reports on his progress have been glowing.
It is now believed United’s goalkeeping staff think Kovar can push to become De Gea’s understudy at Old Trafford.
Of the current reserves, Butland is set to leave and has held talks with Scottish giants Rangers, while Heaton – whose contract expires this summer – could remain for another season.
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On this week’s edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss all the latest transfer news. On the agenda: Aurelien Tchouameni, Lionel Messi, Moises Caicedo, Rafael Leao, Kim min-Jae, David De Gea, Dusan Vlahovic and more.
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