Krishnan Sreekumar
Manchester United consider move for Red Bull Salzburg keeper Philipp Kohn to provide competition to David de Gea
According to Blue Sport (h/t The Sun), Manchester United are interested in a transfer move for Red Bull Salzburg goalkeeper Philipp Kohn in the summer, to provide competition for current No.1 David de Gea.
United currently boast a very strong goalkeeping department, with de Gea the first choice for interim manager Ralf Rangnick and Dean Henderson acting as his deputy, performing well when called upon.
Although de Gea looks set to take up the position between the sticks next term for the club, Henderson or the Red Devils’ other keepers in Lee Grant or Tom Heaton are not guaranteed to play a lot of minutes for the first team or act as his understudy. The latter stars are well past their prime and we cannot bank upon them in the big competitions on a regular basis.
This has led to the club looking at possible options to provide the Spain international with some competition in the squad and battle him for the No.1 spot, and they seem to have set their eyes on Kohn ahead of the new season.
Scouting sent to watch Kohn
The 23-year-old is having a brilliant campaign with his current club this season, keeping them on course to win the Austrian Bundesliga. He has also been impressive in Europe, helping his side reach the Round of 16 in the Champions League, where they were eventually beaten by Bayern Munich.
It is said that United have sent scouts to watch him several times this campaign, including three weeks ago when he faced Bayern in the UCL. Despite his side on the receiving end of a sound 7-1 thrashing by the German giants, Kohn held his own and was one of the star performers for his team.
The Swiss keeper is clearly a talent, with his performances catching the eyes of an English giant like Man United. At 23, the player has years of football left in him as well, which could serve our purpose very well.
However, it remains to be seen whether Kohn would prefer a move to Old Trafford, just to sit on the bench and act as de Gea’s understudy. Replacing the Spanish keeper is no easy task, and the player will need to be at his best to convince the manager to start him over de Gea.
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Kohn is no stranger to Rangnick, with the head coach having signed the keeper when he was in charge of RB Leipzig in 2017. The player was eventually moved on to Salzburg, where he is the established No. 1, but perhaps Rangnick could whisper a few good words about his former star to United’s hierarchy.
Talents like Henderson have failed to shake de Gea from his spot over the past couple of seasons, so it will be interesting to see if Kohn is capable of achieving what the Englishman failed to do – if we sign the Salzburg keeper, that is. It will also be curious to see what happens to Henderson in the summer, with news of another keeper potentially arriving at the club to challenge his spot.
