Manchester United are close to agreeing a deal with Championship side Middlesbrough to sell goalkeeper Radek Vitek.
United decided on a permanent sale rather than another loan, after Vitek spent last season at Bristol City. The Czech goalkeeper impressed there and swept up the club’s inividual prizes, winning the Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year, and Young Player of the Year awards.
On his return to United, however, he has found the route to regular first-team football blocked. He has played in pre-season so far, featuring for 72 minutes against Rosenborg and 45 minutes against Wrexham and keeping clean sheets in both appearances, but United have Belgian Senne Lammens as first choice and backing him up will be Karl Darlow, who joined from Leeds United on a free transfer this summer.
United will play at least 48 games next season but realistically they will not need more than two goalkeepers for those. Even in the case of injuries, Tom Heaton still remains at the club as third choice. Altay Bayindir, who was first choice briefly last season under Ruben Amorim, is expected to leave before the transfer window closes.
Vitek is too good a goalkeeper to sit on the bench for United. He has what it takes to compete for the No 1 shirt and made it clear last season he was interested in doing that, but it is a tall order dislodging an established No 1 because teams generally want the stability of having a clear first choice between the sticks. It is vastly different to the outfield positions that are a bit less stable and more open to competition.
The proposed deal with Middlesbrough is also good for United because it would include both a buyback clause and a sell-on percentage, which means the club will retain control over Vitek’s future while receiving a transfer fee now. In future, they could decide whether to re-sign him or to let him go someplace else.
