Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho is now red. The England wing player is in the fold and things are happening quickly with Real Madrid central defender Raphael Varane too. In other words, the Manchester United summer transfer window is really coming alive now.
Those are the blockbuster deals, which get all the headlines, but we also need to give some love for the more minor transactions, because those are still important too. A trio of deals in this vein were officially announced today, so let’s run down the specifics of this triad of transactions.
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Welcome home, @TomHeatonGK ?#MUFC pic.twitter.com/5cUUPMhsby
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 2, 2021
We start with the official unveiling of the first player United signed this summer, homegrown backup goalkeeper Tom Heaton, who moves over on a free from Aston Villa. It’s all comes full circle for the 35-year-old, who spent 13 years at MUFC in the youth system.
He’s signed until 2023, with a club option for an additional year.
Tom Heaton said: “For me to have the opportunity to come back after spending 13 great years here as a kid, it’s an incredible feeling and I’m really, really excited to get started.
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? @JuanMata8 has extended his stay at United! ?#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 2, 2021
Up next is a bit of a surprising one, Juan Mata, who re-upped for another year, despite his hardly playing. The 33-year-old was the most expensive signing in club history when he came over from Chelsea in January of 2014 for 37 million GBP, and he’s been with the club through four different managers, five if you count Ryan Giggs’ interim stint.
Considered one of the overall good guys in the entire sport, one of the nicest human beings in world football, Mata has scored 51 goals in 273 appearances with United.
For the final item in our troika, we go back to the goalkeepers union, with Lee Grant signing a one year extension.
Lee Grant has put pen-to-paper on a new deal at Old Trafford! ???#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 2, 2021
The 38-year-old, who arrived from Stoke City in 2018, is now inked at the club until 2022. The two back-up keeper deals likely means that David de Gea is on his way out this summer. We kind of already knew that, when the season ended, but nothing has been settled on that front since.
De Gea has admitted his club future is uncertain, as Dean Henderson is now, it would seem, the new No. 1.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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