Justin Bijlow has suffered yet another injury in a blow which could scupper his chances of a £20 million move to Premier League giants Manchester United.
As Crystal Palace pick up where Nottingham Forest left off in talks to bring an end to Dean Henderson’s days gathering moss on the Old Trafford bench, Manchester United could yet be forced into the market for another goalkeeper as well as a central midfielder and a forward before the window closes next week.
Benfica’s Odysseas Vlachodimos, per Fabrizio Romano, is the latest name in the frame, joining Fenerbahce’s Altay Bayindir and Rangers’ Robby McCrorie.
But with Justin Bijlow suffering a repeat of the injury which kept him out of a large portion of Feyenoord’s 2022/23 Eredivisie-winning campaign, the £20 million-rated Dutchman may have already missed out on the opportunity to follow in Andre Onana’s footsteps.
Manchester United held Justin Bijlow talks
“Feyenoord should evaluate and investigate why this happens so often with him,” legedary De Kuip shot-stopper Joop Hiele tells NOS after Bijlow suffered another wrist fracture, one that should keep him out for a while.
“It can’t hurt to investigate why this keeps happening? I’m not saying that this hasn’t happened internally yet. (But) I would at least consider (an investigation into Bijlow’s injury issues).
“Which injuries have they been? In which situations? Could they have prevented them?”
Bijlow was absent from February to mid-April last season. In fact, since September 2018, Feyenoord’s number one has missed 161 games due to a variety of fitness problems (Transfermarkt).
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“First of all, I am terribly sorry for Justin himself,” Hiele adds. “At that time (when he was a youngster), he was not susceptible to injury at all.
“He is a great talent, with a lot of potential. But he has not yet reached maturity due to all the circumstances.”
Yet another injury
Bijlow admitted earlier in the summer that he had held talks with Manchester United. Even without those injury issues, however, Erik ten Hag’s side may prefer to bring in a more affordable option as their new ‘number two’. Bijlow, at £20 million, is far more expensive than the likes of Bayindir and McCrorie.
“There was just contact (with United),” the Netherlands international tells FR12.
“What I can say (is that) I don’t want to talk about it out of respect for Feyenoord. I want to achieve the highest achievable in my career. When that is, we will see for ourselves. Another year at Feyenoord, that’s never bad.”