The old third-choice stopper is in the packing order at Old Trafford but believes he is capable of playing again before retiring
Lee Grant admits he feels like a “zombie” at times as Manchester United’s third-choice goalkeeper, with the 38-year-old going over a summer move while working the “balls” off ”to prove that long play can extend his role.
Old Trafford has been the old stop-opener since 2018, but has brought in two competitive appearances after discovering he is stuck behind the likes of David de Gea, Sergio Romero and Dean Henderson.
Having been a regular for Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and Derby, Grant is deciding whether or not the first option should have one more look somewhere before the day comes to hang up his gloves.
It is told The sun: “It doesn’t matter how long your career is, you still get that fear on Saturdays when you’re not playing.
“I know I’m at Manchester United, you have some of the best goalkeepers in the world in front of you but you still have that personal pride and professionalism. You want to play. In one sense being Number 3 here is perfect.
“Then in another way, if you talk to my wife, she says: ‘I have to make him play because he comes home and from one minute to the next, I don’t know who I’m dealing with’.
“I walk in like a zombie complaining that I’m still good enough to play and I’m training my balls off, working hard. I then want that prize at the end, which is the game of the weekend. And that’s the piece you miss.
“Sometimes she says: ‘Just go and play then if it makes your head so big’. And then I go: ‘Well, what’s the big picture again?’. ”
He said: “I’m looking at what next year will be like for me. It would be a great situation for United to love what they get from me and for us to look at another year. But I have to look at it from my own perspective.
“Do I want to spend any remaining time in my career, doing what I do? Or do I want to go and have one last splash somewhere, a little swan song? ”
Grant will remain a backup option as long as he is on United books, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer already facing the headache about how to keep De Gea and Henderson happy.
“I think the manager handled that situation remarkably well because, in fact, at the start of the season there were big question marks about how that would work and the dynamics in the organization. He has managed to keep two good keepers happy, ”said Grant.
“There are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes happening between now and the end of the season with other keepers and their situations. Right now David, Deano and I are the top three keepers. And then we have a young boy, Nathan Bishop, who is an amazing young talent.
“There is a lot of water to go under the bridge with Sergio Romero and his situation, the young keepers and whether they are going out on loan for experience – which would then mean that opportunities are still there. this to me, so I don’t want to. I don’t know.
“Part of the reason I came here is that I get the opportunity and the opportunity to be around key players, World Cup winners, Champions League winners, Premier League winners, and be in the elite environment sin.
“I want to coach and I want to manage, you see. So being at Manchester United gives me an amazing platform to go ahead and do that stuff. ”