There are some players who find themselves at the heart of a transfer saga nearly every summer. Including, for instance, a goalkeeper heavily linked with Manchester United back in 2023.
When the Red Devils decided not to extend David de Gea’s contract, they spent the first few months of that summer scouring the market for a replacement goalkeeper.
Of course, Andre Onana would arrive in the end from Italian giants Inter Milan.
But the Cameroon international was far from the only talented shot-stopper on Manchester United’s radar. Braga goalkeeper Matheus admitted he held talks with United too.
Erik ten Hag’s Premier League giants looked at Odysseas Vlachodimos, now of Newcastle United, and Brighton and Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen.
Then there was Justin Bijlow.
Reporter admits Justin Bijlow to Manchester United claims were overblown
One year before his proposed switch to Southampton collapsed due to concerns raised in a medical, the Feyenoord shot-stopper was supposedly on his way to Old Trafford.
Dutch international Bijlow himself admits that talks with Man United took place. But a reported £20 million switch was not quite as close as Chris Woerts believed at the time, the reporter now regretting the fact he did not double check the facts before repeating what he had been told by Bijlow’s agent.
“You never really know how things will turn out,” Woerts sighs, speaking to Panorama. “A good example is the transfer of Justin Bijlow from Feyenoord to Manchester United, which [would have] happened last year.
“I was called by Justin’s agent, Ali Dursun. [He said] Justin is going to Manchester United. I reported it with a bit of bravado at the time as a fact, but I should actually have said; ‘I was called this afternoon by Ali Dursun, who told me that Justin is going to Manchester United’.
“In the end, that transfer did not go through.”
For Woerts, this sorry situation is proof that you should not always merely take everything you are told as proof.
“I got in touch with Ali when I did a commercial deal for Frenkie de Jong. I just called Ali. He was quite pleased to get me on the phone,” Woerts adds.
“[Now] I haven’t spoken to Ali for over a year. Football is very volatile, it comes and goes.”
Justin Bijlow is no longer Feyenoord’s number one
One year on, Bijlow’s career has taken a downward turn.
After another season hit by injuries – the Rotterdam-born glovesman has spent far more time on the sidelines than your average goalkeeper – Bijlow recently lost his place as Feyenoord’s number one to the German Timon Wellenreuther.
Southampton turned to Aaron Ramsdale after negotiations collapsed in August. HITC reported that Liverpool had considered reuniting Bijlow with ex-Feyenoord boss Arne Slot too, though that was before Coaimhin Kelleher’s proposed departure failed to materialise.
Bijlow, then, could be forgiven for wondering what might be different had Dursun’s comments about his potential switch to Man United not been a little exaggerrated.
“There was just contact (with United),” Biljlow told FR12 in August 2023. “I want to achieve the highest achievable in my career. When that is, we will see for ourselves.”
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