Man Utd hand new one-year contract to surprise squad member

Manchester United goalkeeper Tom Heaton has signed a new one-year contract with the club.

Heaton is the third-choice stopper at Old Trafford behind Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir but is considered a valued member of the squad for his role on the training pitch and dressing room experience.

The 38-year-old rejoined United in 2021 after previously coming through the youth ranks and carving out a senior career at Cardiff City, Bristol City, Burnley and Aston Villa. He finally made his United debut in a Champions League game against Young Boys in December 2021 at the age of 35.

Heaton has made three appearances in total over the last three seasons at the tail end of his career.

"I am delighted to continue my stay at my boyhood club," Heaton told club media. "I still feel in great shape and I am ready to offer whatever the squad needs throughout the season ahead.

"In addition to on the pitch, I’m learning so much off it for my next steps, whatever that may be. But, first and foremost, I want to push the squad to build on our successes from last season."

A testament to his role at United, Heaton was recently invited by England manager Gareth Southgate to travel with the squad to Euro 2024 as a training goalkeeper. His role is to assist Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and former United teammate Dean Henderson in preparing for games.

When United published their retained list last month, Heaton was one of two players still in discussions with the club over a potential new contract.

The other was fellow veteran Jonny Evans, who was a surprise arrival to make up numbers in the squad last pre-season but wound up earning himself a contract for the whole campaign. The centre-back went on to play 30 games across all competitions and is clearly valued enough by Erik ten Hag and the club to warrant talks about staying on for longer.

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