Matěj Kovář

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Matěj Kovář
Personal information
Full name Matěj Kovář[1]
Date of birth (2000-05-17) 17 May 2000 (age 23)
Place of birth Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic[2]
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Bayer Leverkusen
Number 17
Youth career
0000–2018 1. FC Slovácko
2018–2020 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2023 Manchester United 0 (0)
2020–2021 → Swindon Town (loan) 18 (0)
2022 → Burton Albion (loan) 6 (0)
2022–2023 → Sparta Prague (loan) 28 (0)
2023– Bayer Leverkusen 1 (0)
International career‡
2017 Czech Republic U18 3 (0)
2018–2019 Czech Republic U19 10 (0)
2019 Czech Republic U20 3 (0)
2021–2023 Czech Republic U21 11 (0)
2024– Czech Republic 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:02, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024

Matěj Kovář (born 17 May 2000) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Czech Republic national team.

Kovář joined the Manchester United youth system in 2018, from Czech club 1. FC Slovácko. He spent time on loan at Swindon Town, where he made his senior debut, Burton Albion and Sparta Prague. A former Czech youth international, Kovář represented his country from under-18 to under-21 level.

Club career

Manchester United

Kovář began his career with 1. FC Slovácko in his native Czech Republic, but moved to England to join Manchester United in January 2018 at the age of 17.[3] After being an unused substitute for the under-19s in a 2017–18 UEFA Youth League match against rivals Liverpool on 21 February 2018, he made his debut for the club's under-18s side in a 4–1 league win at home to Everton three days later. He played in all but two of the team's remaining matches that season, replacing Alex Fojtíček as first-choice goalkeeper. Kovář was again the first-choice goalkeeper for the reserve team the following season, playing in 17 of their 22 league matches; he also played in six of the seven matches for the under-19s in the 2018–19 UEFA Youth League.[4]

In 2019–20, he played in 11 of the 17 league matches the reserves played before the season was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, as well as all four matches they played in the 2019–20 EFL Trophy, in which they came up against the senior sides of the teams in EFL League One and Two. His performances for the reserves earned him a new contract with the club, signed in October 2019.[5] With the first team's qualification for the knockout phase of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League secure, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær selected a young team for their matchday 5 game against Astana in Kazakhstan on 28 November 2019; Kovář was named on the bench as back-up for Lee Grant, but did not play in the match.[6]

Ahead of the 2020–21 season, Kovář moved on loan to Swindon Town in August 2020.[7] He made his debut on 5 September 2020, in a 3–1 defeat against Charlton Athletic in the EFL Cup.[8] In January 2021, Kovář was recalled by Manchester United after making 21 appearances for Swindon.[9]

Kovář was named in United's final Premier League squad submitted after the end of the transfer deadline for the 2021–22 season.[10] On 31 January 2022, Kovář signed a new contract with United until June 2023 and moved on loan to Burton Albion until the end of the season.[11][12][13]

On 9 September 2022, Kovář moved on loan to Czech club Sparta Prague.[14] He made his debut on 10 September 2022, in a 2–2 away draw against FK Teplice in the Czech First League.[15] Kovář helped the club to win its first championship title since 2014.[16] He was awarded as the goalkeeper of the 2022–23 season by League Football Association (LFA).[17]

Bayer Leverkusen

On 15 August 2023, Kovář signed a four-year contract with German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.[18] A transfer fee of up to £7.7 million, including add-ons, was agreed between United and Leverkusen.[19]

International career

Kovář has represented the Czech Republic at under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 youth levels.[20] He was a member of the Czech squad at the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in March 2021,[21] but did not make any appearances in the tournament.[20] He made his debut for the under-21 team in September 2021 against Slovenia.[22]

Kovář was first called up to the Czech Republic senior team on 8 September 2021 for a friendly against Ukraine after Tomáš Vaclík suffered an injury.[23] He made his debut on 26 March 2024 in a friendly match against Armenia.[24]

Career statistics

As of match played 11 April 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Manchester United U21 2019–20[25] — — — — 4[c] 0 4 0
2021–22[26] — — — — 1[c] 0 1 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 5 0
Manchester United 2020–21[27] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2021–22[26] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2022–23[28] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Swindon Town (loan) 2020–21[27] League One 18 0 1 0 1 0 — 1[c] 0 21 0
Burton Albion (loan) 2021–22[26] League One 6 0 — — — — 6 0
Sparta Prague (loan) 2022–23[29] Czech First League 28 0 4 0 — — — 32 0
Bayer Leverkusen 2023–24[29] Bundesliga 1 0 4 0 — 8[d] 0 — 13 0
Career total 53 0 9 0 1 0 8 0 6 0 77 0
  1. ^ Includes FA Cup, Czech Cup, DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Sparta Prague

Bayer Leverkusen

Individual

References

  1. ^ "2020/21 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b Matěj Kovář at WorldFootball.net
  3. ^ Froggatt, Mark (31 January 2018). "Young goalkeeper joins United from FC Slovacko". Manchester United. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Matej Kovar". redStat. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  5. ^ Marshall, Adam (9 October 2019). "Kovar signs new contract with United". Manchester United. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  6. ^ Chowdhury, Saj (28 November 2019). "Astana 2–1 Manchester United: Solskjaer says youngsters 'knocking on door' of first team". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Matej Kovar: Manchester United keeper joins Swindon on loan". BBC Sport. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Match report: Swindon Town 1–3 Charlton Athletic". Swindon Town F.C. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Manchester United Recall Goalkeeper Matej Kovar". Swindon Town F.C. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  10. ^ Marshall, Adam (10 September 2021). "United's Premier League squad confirmed". Manchester United. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Kovar signs deal and moves on loan". Manchester United. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  12. ^ Draycott, Evan (31 January 2022). "Burton Albion Sign Goalkeeper Matej Kovar on Loan from Manchester United". BurtonAlbionFC.co.uk. Burton Albion. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Burton Albion sign Harry Chapman, Sam Hughes, Christian Saydee and Matej Kovar". BBC Sport. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Matěj Kovář přichází na hostování". Sparta Prague (in Czech). 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  15. ^ Dosadil, Pavel (10 September 2022). "Spící medvěd hned nasadil gólmana Rudých ďáblů. Moje minela, omlouvá se za další plichtu". sport.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Sparta v euforii! Remíza na Slovácku odstartovala mistrovské oslavy". Sport.cz (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Brankářem sezony sparťan Kovář, mezi obránci uspěl jeho spoluhráč Sørensen". lfafotbal.cz (Press release) (in Czech). League Football Association. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  18. ^ Vacek, Jan (15 August 2023). "Kovář už patří Leverkusenu: Nejlepší cesta, těším se na Hložka a Schicka". Blesk (in Czech). Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Man Utd net £7.7m from Kovar deal". BBC Sport. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  20. ^ a b "Matěj Kovář Reprezentace". Fotbal.cz. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Greenwood out of under-21 European Championship". Manchester United. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Confidence boosting back-to-back clean sheets for Matej Kovar". unitedinfocus.com. September 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  23. ^ Marshall, Adam (8 September 2021). "First senior call-up for Kovar". Manchester United. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  24. ^ "S koučem Haškem vítězná premiéra i na domácí půdě. Čeští fotbalisté na Letné udolali Arménii 2:1". Czech Radio (in Czech). 26 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  25. ^ "Games played by Matěj Kovář in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  26. ^ a b c "Games played by Matěj Kovář in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  27. ^ a b "Games played by Matěj Kovář in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  28. ^ "Games played by Matěj Kovář in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  29. ^ a b Matěj Kovář at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  30. ^ "Bayer Leverkusen are 2023/24 Bundesliga champions!". Bundesliga. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
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