Manchester United have a quiet crisis brewing in goal. Andre Onana is heading back to Turkey on loan. Altay Bayindir is expected to leave for regular minutes. Tom Heaton just turned 40 and signed another year as the third choice. And Dermot Mee, the 23-year-old Northern Irishman who has been at the club since he was a kid, is technically a free agent as of today.
But here’s the thing. United still think he’s staying.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the club has offered Mee a new deal and there’s real confidence he’ll take it. His contract expired on June 30, which means he’s technically free to walk. But the front office believes he’ll sign on to stick around as a reserve option. No official announcement yet, but the expectation is there.
Mee joined United’s youth system back in 2015. He’s been part of the first-team setup since 2021, though he’s never actually played a senior match. He’s been on the bench a handful of times and spent loan spells at lower-league sides like Trafford, Witton Albion and Altrincham. Not exactly a glamorous resume. But apparently the coaching staff values what he brings in training.
The club signed Senne Lammens last summer, which added some stability to the goalkeeping group. But the backup situation is still a mess. Onana’s loan to Trabzonspor means he’s out of the picture for now. Bayindir wants out. Heaton is basically a player-coach at this point. So there’s room for Mee to actually carve out a role, even if it’s just as a homegrown depth piece.
United have been linked with veteran backups like Sam Johnstone, Karl Darlow and Angus Gunn. So it’s not like they’re planning to hand Mee the keys. But the fact that they’re pushing to keep him suggests they see something worth holding onto. The Manchester Evening News reported that Mee is considered a valuable squad presence and has become a regular part of the first-team goalkeeping group in training.
Whether that translates into actual game time is another story. But for a guy who’s been on the books for over a decade and never played a minute, just sticking around at Old Trafford is something.
For now, it’s a waiting game. Mee could sign any day. Or he could decide he’s tired of being a training cone and look elsewhere. But the sense inside the club is that he’ll stay. And in a summer where United have already let Casemiro and Jadon Sancho walk for free, keeping a cheap, loyal backup might actually be a win.
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