It was a typical scene at Manchester United’s training ground. Two players had stayed out late, practising their accuracy from the penalty spot. Bruno Fernandes was one, Juan Mata the other. And Fernandes, in particular, was putting on a masterclass.
“Usually, I’m already forming an opinion about where the penalty-taker is going to put the ball after the first or second step of their run-up,” Lee Grant, the goalkeeper who was trying to keep them out, says. “I’m looking at their body shape, the angle they are coming in, and that’s when I make my decision. With Bruno, though, it’s almost impossible to read his body language. His penalty technique is really like no other. I’m never going to save a penalty if I stick to my usual routine.”
Advertisement
Mata was next in line as Grant was joined by Nathan Bishop, from United’s under-23s, to try to put a stop to their fun.
“I have to be honest: as much as I don’t really want to admit this to The Athletic, they had us on toast,” Grant says, and now he is laughing. “I think I saved one penalty out of 25 from Bruno. Juan was dinking the ball down the middle, sticking it in the top corner. Bruno was rolling it in the corner with that smile on his face. I told him afterwards how difficult it was to read what he was going to do. It made him laugh.”
If you are not as familiar with Grant as perhaps some of the other personnel at Old Trafford, it is probably understandable given that he has been restricted to two appearances since signing from Stoke City three years ago to become, in effect, their third-choice goalkeeper. Or, to put it another way, the back-up to the back-up.
It is, by his own admission, an unusual role. Grant largely goes unseen when the television cameras are following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team on their adventures. David de Gea is the established No 1, Dean Henderson is next in line and, previously, the overlooked Sergio Romero. Grant is one place back and, 14 months since his last appearance, he has had to adjust his mindset accordingly, which has not always been easy when you hear him explain the reasons why he wanted to leave Stoke in the first place.
Grant had won the club’s player of the year award in 2016-17 to go with the one he received at Burnley four years earlier, and his young player of the year trophy for Derby. Stoke were an established Premier League team. Life was good. Then Mark Hughes called Grant into the manager’s office to break the news that Jack Butland was replacing him for the first game of the new season.
“I could sense something was coming,” Grant says. “His first words were, ‘Lee, we need to have a difficult conversation and, before I start, I just want to tell you that you were absolutely my player of the year too’. When he followed that up with, ‘You’re not playing on Saturday’, I physically slid down my chair. Literally, my shoulder blades were the only thing left on the chair. I said to him, ‘It’s like someone has stuck a pin in me, gaffer’. I got back up again and, in fairness to him, he was gutted for me, too.”
Advertisement
These days, when Grant pulls on his gloves for training, he is fully aware that he will not be involved in the next game. Scott Carson, another vastly experienced goalkeeper, is in a similar position at Manchester City. Rob Green previously had this role at Chelsea. The role of a third or fourth-choice goalkeeper is an unorthodox one when the chances of playing, realistically, range from minimal to non-existent.
“I don’t expect everyone to get it,” Grant says. “From the outside looking in, I know there are people who think, ‘Cor, what a gig that is — I’d love that: no work, no pressure, travelling around the world with Manchester United and getting paid for it’. On the other hand, people within the game may understand it better.
“It’s a niche role. I’m in a unique position because it’s not a contentious position. I fully understand the role and that’s maybe a part of why I can do it, but there are challenges. Mentally, how do you deal with not playing every week? I have to be 100 per cent professional. It’s not a role where I am ever going to be embittered about not playing but it’s not a role that everyone can fill because you need someone who is going to toe the line.”
When United set about trying to find someone to fill this position, they wanted an experienced, dedicated professional, who would accept being on the edges without creating disruption behind the scenes. What they heard about Grant told them he was devoted to his work, still capable of playing at the highest level, and a popular member of the dressing room wherever he had been. Personality is key. Grant, to quote one United official, is “the professionals’ professional”.
Perhaps it also helps that he is a boyhood United fan who still talks about the club with almost starry-eyed reverence and remembers “the Mecca” of his childhood, growing up in Hertfordshire, being the Clinton Cards store in Hemel Hempstead.
Advertisement
“You went upstairs in this card store and the whole floor was dedicated to Manchester United. It was unbelievable if you were a United fan. Badges, hats, kits, cards, scarves, pencil cases, sharpeners. As a kid, I’d pick everything up, find an excuse to touch it.
“Peter Schmeichel was my hero but, before that, there was Jim Leighton and Les Sealey. I was fascinated about the story of Leighton smearing Vaseline over his eyebrows to keep the sweat from running into his eyes.
“I remember being told he would run out before every match and headbutt the crossbar as part of his pre-match routine. I loved that story, too. I had this image of sweat pouring off this guy, Vaseline slathered all over his eyebrows, leaping up to the crossbar to get himself going. Then, there was Les Sealey in that iconic United goalkeeper’s shirt with black and green stripes. When you’re a kid, those things are important. What kit have they got on? What gloves have they got on? I was hooked.”
![Lee Grant, Manchester United, Europa League](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/01/29111108/Lee-Grant-Europa-League-scaled.jpg)
Grant’s own career, now spanning 21 years, had started at Derby before three years at Burnley, the same at Sheffield Wednesday, a second spell at Derby and then the move to Stoke.
And then his agent Darryl Powell, an old team-mate from their days at Derby, was on the other end of the line to let him know the 20-time champions of England had been in touch and — no kidding — Jose Mourinho wanted to get a deal done.
“I was having lunch when the phone went,” Grant says. “The first thing Darryl said was, ‘I’ve had a call and you’re not going to like it because it’s not what you want’. Darryl knew I wanted to go somewhere in the Premier League where I could play regularly.
“The next thing he said was ‘Manchester United have called’ and before he said anything else, I interrupted him. ‘Let me just stop you there’, I said. ‘Darryl, if Manchester United have called you and they want me to cut the grass, pick up the kit, drive the bus, I will do it. It doesn’t matter what it is — just call them back, quickly, and tell them I’m coming’.”
What really shines through is Grant’s almost boyish enthusiasm for pulling on his gloves every day and feeling the fresh air on his face. He might not play this weekend, or the weekend after that, or even the weekend after that — but he gives the impression that every day is a joy. His unofficial competition, for example, with “Anto”, aka Anthony Martial, and the regular scene before they face each other on the training ground.
Advertisement
“He gives me this little look as I’m jogging over. ‘I’m on fire today, get ready’, he’ll tell me. Then his first shot comes in and it’s either 1-0 to him or 1-0 to me.
“We’ve had this battle going on for a long time. If I save the first couple I’m whispering in his ear, ‘That’s 2-0, Anto’ but then if he is whacking them past me, he loves to wind me up. ‘Everything OK at home, Lee? Are you tired today? Did you get enough sleep last night?’ I love it. That battle, that challenge. That kind of thing keeps me at it.”
Grant turned 38 this week, making him the oldest member of Solskjaer’s squad and, by his own admission, one of the noisiest in training.
Shola Shoretire, aged 16, joined in recently from the club’s academy. “I asked him for his date of birth as a joke,” Grant says. “And when he told me he was born in 2004, I realised there were only 18 months between him and my son. Mason Greenwood is another where the age gap is big enough for him to be my son.”
It is the point in Grant’s career, in other words, when he is looking to the future and thinking about a coaching or management role for himself one day. One of the attractions of moving to Old Trafford, he says, was to “sponge” what he could from Mourinho, and now Solskjaer, as well as all the other coaches, analysts and staff.
“Another of the attractions was to be surrounded by, and up against, elite players with elite mentality. We’re talking about World Cup winners in some cases. Juan Mata won the World Cup at 22. I sit with Paul Pogba at half-time sometimes and soak up what I can. Is the third man running the channel? What’s the difference between playing as a pivot to playing on the left or right? How is he finding it? What impact is it having? It’s gold dust.
“I love speaking to Nemanja Matic, who has been at the top of his profession for so long and has so many stories. Nemanja has already won the Premier League twice. And he reminds us constantly. He sends a photo to our group chat of his mini Premier League trophy. ‘Any chance, lads, this year? Come on, I need another one’.
Advertisement
“Bruno’s another one — but it’s difficult because I could name 30 guys. Honestly, it feels like the days are too short sometimes.
“When we played Fulham recently, I was talking to one of their coaches about Edinson Cavani and how detailed he was in his preparation. If I was Marcus Rashford or Mason Greenwood, I would just follow Edinson around with a notepad. Then we have young guys such as Axel Tuanzebe and Scott McTominay, who are properly serious athletes, who care about what is going on, the culture of the club, the standard of training every day. We’re really blessed because we have a lot of guys who care.”
De Gea is another one, now in his 10th year at Old Trafford. “That’s one of the things I admire about him the most,” Grant says. “To play for a club of this stature every week, to reel off the amount of games that David has reeled off, and to do it almost uninterrupted, that’s really difficult.
“I had a spell at Sheffield Wednesday where I played for three years straight. Mentally, it’s taxing — physically, it’s taxing. Yet he’s been doing that at the highest level for a really long time.”
The challenge for Grant is to train to his absolute best, stay motivated and prepare for games that, deep down, he knows will not involve him. But that is only part of it. His attitude helps to set the standards. He tries to be a good team-mate. He listens, he supports, he cajoles. He passes on his experience and tries to make his younger colleagues, not just the goalkeepers, better as a result.
Some people in that position might end up feeling resentful. Not Grant, though. “Look at Fulham away,” he says. “We’re winning 2-1 and David makes an unbelievable save (from Ruben Loftus-Cheek) with his feet when you’re thinking it is a surefire goal. We call them ‘Dave Saves’. Any save with your feet is a Dave Save. Even when we make those saves, he likes to call them Dave Saves. I’ve never seen a goalkeeper make more outstanding saves with their feet.”
As for Henderson, Grant has seen enough to realise the 23-year-old is going to keep pushing De Gea as hard as he can.
Advertisement
“The most difficult thing probably for Dean is handling not playing every week,” Grant says. “That’s tough when you’ve been Sheffield United’s best player last season in the same division. We’re talking about a kid who has aspirations to play for England and anyone who has been around Dean would probably say, ‘Yeah, I’d back him’. I’m one of his cheerleaders. I enjoy watching him play. I enjoy his athleticism. I enjoy his intensity in training. He wants to win everything. We all play head tennis once or twice a week and it’s do-or-die for Dean Henderson. I love that about him.”
Always, Grant tries to make a positive contribution.
“When I put my coaching head on and think about the type of players I would like in my dressing room, I try to conduct myself in that fashion,” he says.
“That is probably one of the strengths now of Manchester United. We have such a strong squad, we are in a position where we are having to leave good players at home and that can be really difficult. It’s key for any top team that the players who are on the periphery toe the line because I’ve seen at other clubs what can happen otherwise. I’ve seen it when negativity comes in and sucks the energy out of the dressing room.”
![David de Gea, Dean Henderson, Lee Grant](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/01/29111825/Lee-Grant-De-Gea-Henderson-scaled-e1611937192187.jpg)
Grant tells a story to illustrate his point, going back to his time at Burnley and Sean Dyche’s first week at Turf Moor.
“One of the first things Sean did was hand each of us a sheet of paper. He said he wanted to know from every player, anonymously, how many players there were in the dressing room who were… not snakes, perhaps, but capable of damaging the team spirit because they had a toxic attitude. ‘How many players have I got who are going to be a negative influence?’ he said. ‘I don’t want their names, just the number. Then leave the rest to me’.
“We all wrote down a number — some of the lads might have said one, some might have said 10 — and then he collected them in. He came back with the average score and said, ‘Right, I think there are two lads in here who are poisonous to the group and now it’s my job to find out who they are and weed them out’. And, as you can imagine, Sean didn’t waste much time on that front. It was a huge thing for him not to have that negativity in the dressing room.”
Advertisement
Solskjaer also appears to have fostered a spirit of togetherness at Old Trafford and, though the defeat against Sheffield United in midweek was a considerable setback, it is worth paying attention when someone with Grant’s experience repeatedly mentions the unity in the dressing room.
“What he (Solskjaer) has done so well is, in the middle of all the noise, he has managed to stay very steady and keep everything on an even keel,” Grant says. “That’s some feat because the level of scrutiny at this club can be immense. I look at various websites at the ‘top five stories’ and it always seems to be Manchester United, rather than some of the other clubs.”
One certainty is that Grant will never lose the thrill of pulling on United’s colours and, even if he never makes another appearance, that he is determined to do everything he can for the club that has always held his fascination.
He also remembers what it was like in his first week, staying at the Lowry hotel, when his new kit was delivered.
“I was in my hotel room and I couldn’t resist it. I had to put it on, see what it looked like. Then, I stood in front of the mirror and took a picture of myself. It was just me, in my new kit, with a big cheesy grin. I was giddy, to be honest. It was just a lovely feeling.”
(Photo: Lee Grant and David de Gea celebrate after Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in March 2019; Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)