Manchester United sent a 20-year-old goalkeeper out on loan this week, and no, it’s not the guy you’re thinking of.
Solomon Honor, a 6-foot-5 shot-stopper who joined United’s U21 setup just five months ago, is headed to National League North side Southport FC for the season. The club announced the move Tuesday on social media with a simple welcome post that included a nod to his England youth pedigree and time in Blackburn Rovers’ academy.
Honor arrived at United in February from Blackburn, where he’d also spent time in Manchester City’s youth system. He never actually played a game for United. He sat on the bench behind Will Murdock in Adam Lawrence’s U21 side. That’s it. That’s the whole resume so far.
But here’s the part worth paying attention to: United’s goalkeeper room is absolutely stacked, and this loan is just one of several moves fans should expect before the window closes.
There’s a logjam at goalkeeper and more loans are coming
Radek Vitek is generating the most interest among United’s young keepers, per reports. He’s currently with the first team on their pre-season tour, so any loan for him will have to wait until after that trip wraps up. Elyh Harrison is another name to watch. He’s an England U20 international who spent last season at Shrewsbury after a standout loan at Chester — though the Shrewsbury stint didn’t go as well. He’s been training with Michael Carrick’s squad but wasn’t included in the trip to Finland to face Wrexham.
Harrison’s situation is interesting. He won the Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year award not long ago. But he’s at that awkward stage where he needs regular first-team minutes to keep developing, and United might not have a clear path for him right now.
Honor, meanwhile, heads to Southport with a lot to prove. He’s young, he’s tall, and he’s got the academy credentials. But he’s also joining a club in the sixth tier of English football, which tells you where he is in the pecking order. Southport fans should be excited about the size and the potential. Just don’t expect him to be at Old Trafford anytime soon.
The Honor family runs deep at United
Solomon isn’t the only Honor on United’s books. His younger brother Zico is also a goalkeeper and is moving into the U15 age group for the upcoming season. That kind of sibling pipeline isn’t unusual in United’s academy. The 2026 scholar class includes several players whose brothers are already in the system — Gazik Ibragimov, for example, just joined his brother Amir in Germany for pre-season with the U18s and U21s.
And yes, the sons of Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick are also part of that scholar intake. United’s academy continues to stockpile talent, both homegrown and inherited.
For now, Solomon Honor is off to Southport to get what every young keeper needs: actual games. Whether he comes back with real first-team potential or gets lost in the shuffle remains to be seen. But he’s at least one step closer to finding out.
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