Man Utd agree contract with Tom Heaton to add further spice to goalkeeper battle

Manchester United have reportedly agreed a deal with Tom Heaton to sign the goalkeeper following his release from Aston Villa.

Heaton, 35, moves as a free agent upon the expiration of his contract at Villa Park and will add to an already strong goalkeeping set-up, with David de Gea and Dean Henderson already on the books at Man Utd.

A former England international, Heaton returns to where it all began, coming through the ranks as a youngster at Carrington between 2002 and 2005.

Although, Heaton never did start for the Red Devils during his first spell. The closest he came was on the bench during the 2007/08 Premier League season when Edwin van der Sar was out injured.

The former Burnley shot-stopper will be desperate to pull on the famous United shirt and put that to bed this time round with the Mirror claiming a deal for Heaton is done.

Despite occupying the number one jersey at Aston Villa, Heaton was unable to make a single Premier League appearance for Dean Smith's side during the previous campaign.

In fact you have to go back to January 1 2020 for his last competitive showing, a 2-1 win over former employers Burnley at Turf Moor, where he sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Heaton is yet to make a comeback appearance from that injury and lost his place as first-choice 'keeper to fan's favourite Emi Martinez, who arrived from Arsenal in last season's summer transfer window.

Before his injury, Heaton had only missed one of the 21 Premier League games in the 2019/2020 campaign and had cemented himself as one of the first names on the Aston Villa team sheet.

Since then, regular game time has been hard to come by. Four reserve matches weren't enough for Heaton to earn himself a new deal at Villa who chose to let him leave as a free agent.

Although the lack of games might be of slight concern to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Heaton on a free transfer is shrewd business with little risk attached.

He faces a tough task trying to displace both Henderson and de Gea, but Heaton will know that at the age of 35, this may be his last chance at to fulfil a life-long dream of making a first-team appearance for Man Utd.

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