Last summer Manchester United were hunting for a goalkeeper and now one prospect mentioned has ended up as the league’s best.
The scouting department at Manchester United often comes under fire, however, it’s often unfair as scouting has never been the problem. This has been evident through the years with some of the talents who’ve been scouted and ignored by the higher-ups.
Erling Haaland and Moises Caicedo are just three prominent examples currently in the Premier League of players who were scouted and ignored, equating to a massive £280m worth of players on the CIES market value tool between them.
Ineos are determined to change this and with someone like Jason Wilcox in as technical director, there’s a good chance it happens.
But in the summer of 2023, United did everything right, identifying an elite goalkeeper talent only to be rejected as he wanted game-time assurances and now that player has gone on to have a barnstorming season better than any keeper in his league.
Zion Suzuki is the highest-rated goalkeeper in Belgium
The signing of Andre Onana was always going to come good and after the FA Cup final, it’s safe to say that it has. The Cameroonian escaped some poor early-season displays to be key in the final, despite being subjected to an unfair amount of shots.
But his understudy Altay Bayindir clearly hasn’t won over Erik ten Hag, making just one appearance in which he conceded twice to Newport in the FA Cup.
But before Bayindir, there was a £5m bid which was submitted for 21-year-old Japanese goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, only for the player to consider it too big a leap and he then made a move to Sint-Truiden in Belgium instead.
Here, it’s safe to say he’s been a success and has been named as the highest-rated keeper in the country with a performance index score of 94 by DataMB recently, eight more than second place.
This includes some impressive and league-leading stats which will surely be retaining the attention of United scouts.
Zion Suzuki compared with positional peers in Belgium
From this it’s crystal clear Suzuki is good enough for a new challenge and from his main strengths, he could be an Onana regen, perfect for United to succeed the No. 24.
Manchester United should return for Suzuki this summer
This summer could see Bayindir exit the club, with reports already linking him away after a move which hasn’t seemed like a happy one for anyone.
This would leave United in search of a number two once again and Suzuki could be that man, but it would require Ten Hag to give him game time, perhaps having him as the cup goalkeeper.
If Suzuki was willing to come, he’d also likely be relatively cheap still, albeit more expensive than the £5m quoted last season.
To have him learning under Onana for a year or two would be perfect considering the two are similar. In a few years then Suzuki would either surpass Onana or have settled as a quality number two.