According to the MEN, youngster Matej Kovar is expected to go out on loan for the season.
This is a much needed move for the Czech goalkeeper, who excelled for the club’s under-23 team this past season.
He was extremely unlucky not to make his first team debut against Astana in the Europa League, with veteran stopper Lee Grant getting the nod.
Kovar needs a fresh challenge, and there are several goalkeepers backing him up for the under-23s who will benefit from him going out on loan, including January signing from Southend, Nathan Bishop.
Talented goalkeeper
League One side Swindon Town are said to be leading the chase for Kovar, although other Football League sides are keen too.
It is no surprise there is interest after Kovar’s performances in the EFL Trophy in 2019/20, in which he starred against senior sides.
In the three group stage games he kept two clean sheets and conceded just one goal, with one particularly standout performance against Doncaster Rovers.
It proved that the 20-year-old was ready for the challenge of senior football.
He began the under-23 season last year with four consecutive clean sheets and was one of the contributing elements to the team winning promotion.
Kovar has made real strides since joining the club in 2018 from FC Slovacko, and a loan move is the next logical step.
Kovar can get into the first team mix
United’s goalkeeper situation is already the most complicated battle in the first team.
With only one spot available, David de Gea, Sergio Romero, and now Dean Henderson have fair shouts to be first choice.
Henderson in particular should be an inspiration to Kovar. He has just had two loan spells at Sheffield United, one in the Premier League, but began lower down.
The England star’s first loan was at Stockport County, followed by two more with Grimsby Town and then Shrewsbury Town.
If Kovar can show the same promise and adaptability at first team level which Henderson showed, he can rise up the ladder too.
It may be a couple of years before Kovar begins to start stating his to feature for United.
By this time Sergio Romero and David de Gea could both be gone, with the job entrusted to Henderson. It could even be Kovar’s return which shakes up the pool of talent and helps United move one or both of them on.
Kovar certainly has the ability to challenge, later down the line, and his next loan spell, and the one after that, will begin to shape the direction of his career.
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