Radek Vitek celebrates a brilliant debut as a loan player at BW Linz and impresses in the 3-0 win against Rapid Vienna
Manchester United have loaned out three players so far this season: Joe Hugill, Radek Vitek and Tom Wooster left the club to play more often in the first team.
Joe Hugill’s loan spell did not get off to a particularly good start and Tom Wooster’s loan to an amateur team is unlikely to attract much attention in terms of his prospects of playing in the first team in the future.
However, Radek Vitek’s loan spell at BW Linz was notable after he impressed in Manchester United’s pre-season following a successful loan spell at Accrington Stanley.
To the delight of Manchester United fans, Vitek started at BW Linz just as he left United: in brilliant form.
Radek Vitek’s memorable debut at BW Linz
It has almost become a habit for Vitek to start his career at loan clubs, like a man with a mission to secure a permanent place in the club.
He was named man of the match on his debut at Accrington last year and started his time at BW Linz in similar fashion with a 3-0 win over Rapid Vienna.
Vitek was a key factor in Linz not conceding a goal, as he saved four top-quality shots in the penalty area.
According to FotMob, his saves are worth an xG of 0.82, meaning that a goalkeeper is generally expected to allow at least one goal for the shots fired at him.
He was able to use his large stature and his command of the penalty area to good effect, winning the ball three times, and showed off his initiative as he attempted to initiate attacks with quick throws.
The 3-0 win against the favored opponent is immediately the best league result of this short season for Linz and brings the team to third place in the league.
It is worth mentioning that Linz only gained promotion to Austria’s top division last year, so if Vitek’s heroics manage to keep the club in the top half of the table, it would be a remarkable achievement.
Vitek has potential for Man United
There are a few things that separate players who make their breakthrough from players who are destined to play football outside of Old Trafford.
Dean Henderson’s career is a good example of this. Through several loan spells, he rose through the league ranks, eventually making his debut for United and is now an established goalkeeper in the Premier League and England.
Vitek also started out in a lower English football league, and the fact that he is not English broadened his horizons to go elsewhere for the next loan.
The fact that he took on this challenge and moved to Austria instead is commendable, because with RB Salzburg and LASK, to name just two, there are some really impressive opponents there at European level.
If Vitek excels this season, it will become clear that he must at least be given a chance to challenge Andre Onana instead of Altay Bayindir.
Perhaps a loan to the Premier League will follow, but one thing is certain: if Vitek maintains the form he made his debut, he definitely has the potential to be between the sticks for United one day.
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