Lee Grant completes Manchester United move
I don’t think too many people took too much notice of this transfer when it was first rumoured last week, but yesterday former Burnley goalkeeper Lee Grant left Stoke City and signed for Manchester United.
Now 35, he’ll be third choice behind David de Gea and Romero at Old Trafford and unlikely to play too much football, but it was like that at Stoke last season where he played just three Premier League games in November as he played the part of understudy to Jack Butland.
He’d initially signed for Stoke in August 2016 on loan, a move made permanent in the following January for a fee in excess of a million, and in that first season he was named the club’s player of the year having come in for Shay Given.
Stoke had signed him from Derby where he started his career, making his league debut against Burnley in our 2-1 win on our first ever league visit to Pride Park in 2002. He came on as a substitute that day for former Burnley keeper Andy Oakes.
He made his Burnley debut in November 2005 having been brought in on loan following Brian Jensen’s red card at Luton in the previous game. He kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win but it was 2010 when he next played for us having signed from Sheffield Wednesday, where he’d been for three years after leaving Derby.
Having played in the League Cup, he won his place in the league team at QPR in October and was virtually first choice then until he chose to return to Derby in the summer of 2013. During that spell he played a total of 114 league games for us.
He subsequently lost his place at Derby to Scott Carson and that prompted the move to Stoke. He’s now a Manchester United player with the Premier League runners up having sold Sam Johnstone yesterday to West Brom.
Grant said of his transfer: “Moving to Manchester United has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. This was an opportunity that I couldn’t let pass and I’m thrilled to become a part of such a historic club.
“I’ve enjoyed every moment of my career so far and I’m now ready to continue learning and improving alongside some of the best players in the game. But at the same time, I intend to use my experience to help the team whenever possible.
“I want to say a huge thank you to those close to me who have supported me along my journey so far. I’m looking forward to meeting my team-mates and giving everything possible for the club in the upcoming season.”
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