It has not been a good time for ex-Man United players who left the club because most have struggled to touch those heights after their departure but that hasn’t been the case for everyone.
While there are more examples of players having to take a step down, or in some cases like David de Gea taking a whole year off from football, there have been success stories too.
For example, Di’Shon Bernard has rediscovered himself in the Championship after United botched his development horribly.
Similarly, there are players who bet on themselves to make a name elsewhere and have managed to do so, and one of those has now teased a return just a year after leaving.
Ex-Man Utd star teases return
Raphael Varane’s Como debut was a disaster, Anthony Martial is still without a club, David de Gea is back in football after a year off, while Shola Shoretire finds himself in Greece.
Amid all these falls from grace, there is a player who left United last year to bet on himself and ended the season with a historic league title in a fairly important role.
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen broke records en route to an undefeated league campaign and the player who manned the sticks in the cup competitions and the Europa League was former United man Matej Kovar.
Goalkeeper is the toughest position to break through in modern football and at United, there was never going to be an opening once Andre Onana was signed.
Kovar landed at Leverkusen and after 17 appearances in an exciting debut season, has hinted at a return to Old Trafford in the future.
In an interview with Rheinische Post, Kovar said being at United was a “childhood dream” he had to fulfil, regardless of how it ended, and “maybe I’ll come back one day”.
He said: “It wasn’t an easy decision to leave everything behind at that age: the country, my friends, my family. But when Manchester United calls, you don’t have to think long. For me, a childhood dream came true. I had to take that chance.
“I was there for five years, enjoyed the time, met a lot of great people, and matured as a goalkeeper and a person. I’m grateful for the experiences.
“Of course, there were ups and downs, but they’re part of life. Maybe I’ll come back one day, that would be nice.”
Matej Kovar’s success is Man United’s success
With Andre Onana only 28, young in goalkeeping terms, and exciting prospects emerging behind him in Radek Vitek and Elyh Harrison, it is fair to assume that that door to being Old Trafford No. 1 is closed shut for now.
However, Kovar is only 24, and time moves quickly in football. Furthermore, when United sold the player, they inserted a buy-back clause into the deal in case he flourishes after moving, which is looks set to do.
Therefore, there could be a scenario in the future when Kovar’s dream becomes a reality and he comes back to United, even if only as a backup since that’s the role he’s playing at Leverkusen anyway.
However, if he keeps up his trajectory and replaces their first-choice goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, who’s 35, then the sky is the limit for him.
Either way, Kovar’s success is United’s success and his path is one to follow for young players betting on themselves to succeed elsewhere.
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