Patrick Rees
Manchester United have a history of having some top class goalkeepers in their ranks. From the Ferguson’s Champions League winner Peter Schmeichel to Jose Mourinho’s trusted sheriff David De Gea, United have been blessed in this category, hence, it is fair to say that the goalkeeping spot is of least concern for the officials at Old Trafford.
Yet, according to the report from the Daily Mirror, Manchester United have shown their interest in signing the 18-year-old Chievo Verona keeper Alessandro Confente. The same source further mentions that the youngster was on United’s radar even before the arrival of Jose Mourinho, and since then, their interest has been inflated as the scouts have been monitoring his progress quite keenly.
Further, it is also reported that if United are to sign the 18-year-old, then they will have to battle it out against the defending Serie A champions Juventus, as the Turin-based club have also set their sights on the player.
Confente is surely an unknown quantity right now, but so was Edwin van der Sar and David de Gea when they were brought to the club. The 18-year-old Italian is training with the senior team of Chievo Verona but is still playing for their youth team and so far this season, the youngster has managed to keep four clean sheets in 11 games.
Confente is tied up with Chievo for until June 2019, and even despite the fact that goalkeepers don’t cost as much as the attacking players, the 18-year-old is rated at around £4million, even though he has not made any senior appearance for the team.
Do United really need another goalkeeper?
It is a well-known fact that David de Gea is going nowhere and if we remove the flying Spaniard from the picture, United will be left with an all confident Sergio Romero and a highly rated Joel Pereira. The Portuguese stopper recently travelled back to Manchester after completing his loan spell and that has led the manager to allow Sam Johnstone to leave on loan to Aston Villa.
Hence, it is fair to say that Confente has a long way ahead to break into the first team of Manchester United. Even if United ends up signing the Italian stopper, he will be made to play for the reserve side because let’s be practical here, United are canonized with some top quality personnel in that spot.
As mentioned before, goalkeeping area is of least concern for United, hence making a move for the 18-year-old makes no sense. What United need is to find a perfect match in midfield as Carrick is not getting any younger and Fellaini is certainly an out of favour man for the supporters.
