Erik ten Hag and Manchester United made significant changes to their goalkeepeing ranks in the summer, allowing David de Gea to leave as a free agent at the end of his contract and shelling out over £47m on a replacement in Inter Milan’s Andre Onana.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils banked up to £20m from the permanent departure of Dean Henderson, who joined Crystal Palace, and they sold youngster Matej Kovar to Bayer Leverkusen for just under £8m. Altay Bayindir came in from Turkish club Fenerbache in a £4.2m deal to fill the void.
Now, it’s emerged that a surprise name is working with Onana and Bayindir behind the scenes at United’s Carrington training ground after Ten Hag granted a request.
Joe Lewis steps up to first-team Man Utd training
As reported by The Mirror, 36-year-old Joe Lewis is training with United’s first-team to keep up his fitness levels. Lewis, a free agent, had been taking part in under-21 sessions, but he asked Ten Hag whether he could step up to the senior side, and the Dutchman gave him the green light.
There’s “no indication” at this stage that Lewis will be offered a permanent deal by the club, but it’s noted that Jonny Evans’ second spell at the club began as an informal training arrangement, so we can’t rule it out entirely.
Lewis never truly realised potential after England call-up
Lewis graduated from the Norwich City academy but never made a senior appearance for the club, spending time on loan at Stockport and Morecambe before a permanent switch to Peterborough in 2008.
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He spent four years with the Posh, making nearly 200 appearances, before joining Cardiff City, where he played his only-ever Premier League game – a 1-1 draw with Hull City in September 2013.
The next two seasons saw him make temporary moves to Blackpool and Fulham, and he then joined Aberdeen on a free transfer in 2016. The Dons are the team he’s represented the most, but his time there came to an end last summer.
Joe Lewis clubs | Joined | Left | Apps |
|---|---|---|---|
Norwich | – | 2008 | 0 |
Stockport (loan) | 2007 | 2007 | 5 |
Morecambe (loan) | 2007 | 2008 | 22 |
Peterborough | 2008 | 2012 | 189 |
Cardiff | 2012 | 2016 | 5 |
Blackpool (loan) | 2014 | 2015 | 36 |
Fulham (loan) | 2015 | 2016 | 9 |
Aberdeen | 2016 | 2023 | 272 |
At the international level, meanwhile, Lewis played five times for England’s under-21 side but never truly lived up to the early potential he showed. Fabio Capello did call him up to the Three Lions’ senior squad at one stage, but he didn’t get the chance to make his debut.
A number of top Premier League teams have seen the benefit of keeping a vastly experienced stopper around as their third-choice, be it Adrian at Liverpool or Scott Carson at Manchester City, but United already have 37-year-old Tom Heaton to play that role, so unfortunately it seems there isn’t a first-team opening Lewis. Realistically, his main hope will be that the teams further down the football pyramid take note of the fact that he’s been training with Ten Hag’s side, and make him an offer.
