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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have confirmed their capture of Manchester United goalkeeper Matej Kovar this morning.
The 23-year-old may never have played in a senior competitive fixture for The Red Devils, but he did impress in preseason.
Kovar was highly-regarded by staff around Carrington and enjoyed a fine loan spell at Sparta Prague, where he was declared the Goalkeeper of the Year in the the Czech First Division.
Nevertheless, he was omitted from Man United’s tour squad for their games in the USA, as he sought to secure first-team football elsewhere.
As reported by The Peoples Person, Bayer Leverkusen have been in discussion with United for a couple of weeks.
The talented shot-stopper flew out to Germany last Thursday for the first part of his medical, and is now officially a Leverkusen player.
As relayed by BuliNews, the Bundesliga side agreed a deal worth up to €9m, although only €5m of that fee will be paid up front.
The rest will be made up of performance-related bonuses.
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While it is often a shame to lose a good young player, Man United have shown impressive foresight in this transfer deal.
A buy-back option has been included in the deal, although it is unclear what the Premier League side would need to pay should they want their academy graduate to return.
But this option will allow Erik ten Hag to work with extra funds this summer, while also enabling the club to keep a watchful eye on Kovar should they need a goalkeeper later down the line.
For now, Manchester United are reliant on the cohort of Andre Onana, Dean Henderson, and Tom Heaton, although with the latter injured, and Henderson thought to be hopeful of a move himself, there is a sense of uncertainty around the position.
