Manchester United made big changes in the goalkeeping ranks last summer and one departed player end up experiencing the season of a lifetime.
David De Gea wasn’t the only goalkeeper to leave Manchester United last summer.
Dean Henderson and Nathan Bishop were let go too, whilst United brought in Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir between the sticks.
Another departure saw Matej Kovar depart Old Trafford as he completed a move to Bayer Leverkusen.
The Czech stopper had impressed on loan at Sparta Prague but United decided to cash in on the 6ft 5in stopper.
Leverkusen paid around £7.7million for Kovar, landing him as competition for first-choice Lukas Hradecky.
Bayer Leverkusen chief on Matej Kovar season
Kovar headed to Germany but couldn’t have possibly expected the season to come.
Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title without losing a single game, won the DFB-Pokal and lost in the final of the Europa League.
Losing one game in all competitions across a full season is astonishing stuff and Kovar played his part.
The 24-year-old started all 12 of Leverkusen’s Europa League games and started one Bundesliga fixture on his way to celebrating a truly astonishing campaign.
Kovar then featured for Czechia at Euro 2024, so he has certainly made steps in his carer since leaving United.
Leverkusen managing director Simon Rolfes has now reflected on Kovar’s first season with the club whilst speaking to Kicker.
Rolfes feels that ‘mistakes happen’ with Kovar described as having ‘a few wobbles’ in his debut season.
Rolfes is happy with Kovar overall though, believing that he played well with the ball at his feet and is still learning his craft.
“In this learning process, it’s normal that mistakes happen now and then,” said Rolfes. “Overall, however, he had a lot of strong moves and played well with the ball,” he added.
Rolfes may hear from Manchester United soon
Hradecky is now 34 and Kovar is surely being developed to become his successor down the line.
That moment may well come and Leverkusen would no doubt feel that £7.7million is a strong deal for a future number one stopper.
Leverkusen may yet see one of their players head in the opposite direction this summer.
Reports earlier in July suggested that United have ‘made a check’ in a potential deal to sign Leverkusen centre back Jonathan Tah.
Bayern Munich’s move for Tah is allegedly in danger of collapsing and United may well be keen on a hijack attempt.
Rolfes can be happy with one deal he struck with United a year ago, but may yet lose one of his key players to Old Trafford before the window ends.