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Radek Vitek has sparkling debut on loan at BW Linz as he stands tall in a 3-0 win vs Rapid Wien
Manchester United have sent three players on loan so far this season, with Joe Hugill, Radek Vitek, and Tom Wooster leaving for more first-team football.
Joe Hugill’s loan spell hasn’t had the best of starts, while Tom Wooster’s loan to a non-league side is not likely to garner much attention with respect to his first-team prospects in the future.
However, Radek Vitek‘s loan spell at BW Linz became one to watch after he impressed in Manchester United’s pre-season after coming off a successful loan spell at Accrington Stanley.
To the excitement of Manchester United fans, Vitek has started at BW Linz the same way he left United, in sparkling form.
Radek Vitek’s memorable BW Linz debut
Vitek has made it somewhat of a habit of starting out at loan clubs like a man on a mission to establish himself strongly.
He made a man-of-the-match debut at Accrington last year and he has started his BW Linz spell in similar fashion in a 3-0 win vs Rapid Wien.
Vitek was a key factor in Linz keeping a clean sheet, as he made four saves inside the box, all from high-quality shots.
As per FotMob, his saves worth worth an xG of 0.82, which means that generally, a keeper would be expected to concede at least one goal from the shots he faced.
He used his big frame and command of the area to good effect with three recoveries, while there was his proactiveness on full display as he tried to start attacks by launching quick throws.
This 3-0 win over more fancied opposition immediately becomes Linz’s best league result of this short season, taking them to third position in the league.
It is worth mentioning that Linz got promoted to the first division of Austria just last year so if Vitek’s heroics can keep them in the top half of the table, it would be a remarkable achievement.
Vitek has Man United potential
There are some things that separate players who breakthrough from players destined to play football away from Old Trafford.
Dean Henderson’s journey is a relevant example, as he kept going up the divisions with successive loan spells, ultimately getting a United debut, before becoming an established Premier League/England goalkeeper now.
Vitek also started out in the lower league of English football and his being non-English widened the horizons for him to go elsewhere for the next loan move.
It is commendable that he chose to challenge himself and move to Austria instead because in RB Salzburg and LASK, to name two, there are some truly formidable European-level opponents there.
If Vitek stands out this season, then it will become clear that he at least needs to be given the chance to challenge Andre Onana in place of Altay Bayindir.
Maybe a Premier League loan could follow but one thing’s for certain. If Vitek keeps up the form he showed on his debut, then he definitely has potential to be between the sticks for United one day.
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