{"id":33864,"date":"2026-05-18T13:14:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/manchester-united-star-agrees-new-contract-despite-not-playing-for-three-years-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T13:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:14:31","slug":"manchester-united-star-agrees-new-contract-despite-not-playing-for-three-years-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/manchester-united-star-agrees-new-contract-despite-not-playing-for-three-years-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United star agrees new contract despite not playing for three years | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/590x\/secondary\/6926576.jpg?r=1779095876461\" alt=\"A panoramic view of Old Trafford.\" title=\"A panoramic view of Old Trafford.\" width=\"590\" height=\"393\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Manchester United have made a potentially important contractual decision. <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty Images)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Tom Heaton is set to agree a one-year contract extension that will extend his second spell at Manchester United to a sixth season, with the veteran goalkeeper&#8217;s presence also helping to meet next season&#8217;s Champions League squad requirements. Heaton celebrated his 40th birthday last month and despite not having played a game for United since February 2023, he continues to maintain excellent fitness levels and continues to set benchmarks in training.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>The former England international is equally well-regarded in the dressing room for his leadership qualities, and this season he took 23-year-old goalkeeper Senne Lamence under his wing, leading the Belgian to his first Premier League game. With second-choice goalkeeper Altay Vaindir expected to leave Old Trafford this summer and Andre Onana on the transfer list after a loan spell at Trabzonspor, Heaton will provide much-needed continuity as the team&#8217;s third-choice stopper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Heaton, who made no first-team appearances before leaving the club in 2010 after coming through United&#8217;s youth ranks, is also eligible as a homegrown player and will help fill the club&#8217;s 25-man squad when they return to the Champions League next season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>UEFA rules state that each team must have at least eight &#8216;association-trained&#8217; players in their 25-man list, of which at least four must be &#8216;club-trained&#8217;. To be eligible, a player must have spent three consecutive seasons with the club between the ages of 15 and 21.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Within United&#8217;s current squad, only Heaton, Luke Shaw and potential Amad are eligible as club development players, while Koby Mainu is eligible to be included in List B under UEFA&#8217;s team rules for the 2026\/27 season as a player born after 1 January 2005 and who has spent at least two years with the club.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Express sports on FB! Get all the best sports news and more on our Facebook page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Amad has been classified as a homegrown player by the Premier League this season and must meet UEFA standards. Only Harry Maguire and Mason Mount would be considered trained by the Association.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">United occupied four Europa League spots last season with Heaton, goalkeeper Dermot Mee, retired centre-back Jonny Evans and forward Marcus Rashford. Mee remains at Old Trafford and could play next season, but Evans will then move into a coaching role and Rashford is likely to leave this summer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/590x\/secondary\/6926579.jpg?r=1779095881397\" alt=\"tom heaton\" title=\"tom heaton\" width=\"590\" height=\"393\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Tom Heaton is set to extend his stay at United. <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>On-loan midfielder Toby Collier will count as a live-in player, but the 22-year-old could be sent out on loan again. Goalkeeper Radek Vitek will also be eligible, while Mee could once again serve as a fourth-choice stopper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Vitek, 22, enjoyed a fantastic season on loan at Championship side Bristol City but is keen to play regular first-team football. Bindil is expected to leave this summer in search of regular minutes, and United may try to persuade Vitek to replace Lamence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>World Cup Legends: The stars of soccer&#8217;s biggest tournament in history &#8211; buy the special edition now<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>United could choose fewer than the required eight homegrown players, but that would limit the size of the squad allowed to play. If only six players were included instead of eight, the team cap would be 23 instead of 25.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Heaton will allay some concerns about UEFA&#8217;s squad regulations, but his contribution behind the scenes is also seen as valuable at Old Trafford. He is a confidant of captain Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro praised his influence last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>&#8220;First of all, he promotes training,&#8221; Casemiro said on the Rio Ferdinand Meets podcast. \u201cHe pushes in training every time, he pushes before every game. Of course he doesn&#8217;t play, but he pushes every time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>&#8220;And he explains his experience. He explains it because his English is very good. But for me, every room needs a Tom. Every room needs a Tom, because he helps the room (a lot).&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2206692\/Man-Utd-news-Tom-Heaton-contract\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester United have made a potentially important contractual decision. (Image: Getty Images) Tom Heaton is set to agree a one-year contract extension that will extend his second spell at Manchester United to a sixth season, with the veteran goalkeeper&#8217;s presence also helping to meet next season&#8217;s Champions League squad requirements. Heaton celebrated his 40th birthday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Manchester United star agrees new contract despite not playing for three years | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/manchester-united-star-agrees-new-contract-despite-not-playing-for-three-years-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manchester United star agrees new contract despite not playing for three years | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Manchester United have made a potentially important contractual decision. (Image: Getty Images) Tom Heaton is set to agree a one-year contract extension that will extend his second spell at Manchester United to a sixth season, with the veteran goalkeeper&#8217;s presence also helping to meet next season&#8217;s Champions League squad requirements. 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