Yesterday, Manchester United finished its tour in the United States with yet another victory, this time over rivals Liverpool. The victory sealed the International Champions Cup for the British team which went 4-0-1 in its five game stretch in the States. However, the tour victory was not the only good news to come to Man U yesterday.
According to its official site, Manchester United finalized a deal to sign 6’7″ goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic yesterday. The deal has Milinkovic being loaned back to his former Serbian SuperLiga club, FK Vojvodina, until the end of the season, at which point Milinkovic will join the Red Devils.
Man Utd have officially signed 17 year old Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic from FK Vojvodina. #MUFC pic.twitter.com/SqohDY2nh9
— United Daily (@UtdDaily_) August 5, 2014
While one can be positive that FK Vojvodina is going to mourn the loss of Milinkovic, who made six appearances for Serbia in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (including a 1-1 draw with Germany), club president Zoran Scepanovic had nothing but positive words for both Milinkovic and Manchester United in his press conference statement:
After lengthy talks that have taken place over the past month, we have finally completed negotiations on Monday and we can officially inform the public that our young and promising goalkeeper has joined Manchester United. He will remain in Vojvodina for the next year, where he will be under the supervision of our experts and coaches from the English football giants, while continuing to train and perform in the jersey of his home club. This is an opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the realisation of this transfer. Can I point out Manchester United’s very correct attitude.
Vojvodina's sporting director Mladen Jovanic reveals that the club will receive €1,750.000 from Manchester United for Vanja Milinkovic-Savic
— Serbian Football (@SerbianFooty) August 3, 2014
Once Milinkovic arrives at Old Trafford, though, his route to stardom will not be easy. Manchester United already has two stellar goalies between the posts – David De Gea (who is only 23 himself) and Anders Lindegaard. Some may question Man U’s decision to bring in another goalie when there is already much competition for the starting position, but the attitude of Lindegaard will prove invaluable toward helping Milinkovic develop his talents to the utmost level. When asked about his perceived frustrations backing-up Spanish international goalie De Gea, Lindegaard displayed a positive and healthy attitude:
I have to try and be objective, and raise myself up above just myself and see it from the club’s perspective and how much pressure we have been under. Then it is easier for me to understand why things are the way they are. For me it is all about being a happy human being. I am that now at Manchester United. It is my club since I was a small kid. This is my dream.
Manchester United hopes that the addition of Milinkovic, along with new manager Louis van Gaal’s announcement to name Wayne Rooney captain, will lead to much more success in the 2014/15 season, especially coming off of the bitter quarterfinal round knock-out in the 2014 UEFA Champions League tournament to Bayern Munich.
Image via YouTube