Man Utd: Lee Grant now one of English football’s top striker coaches | OneFootball

Manchester United fans can be forgiven if they only vaguely remember Lee Grant.

Jose Mourinho sprang a surprise in the summer of 2018 by signing the veteran goalkeeper, who had spent almost his entire career in the Football League.

Aged 35 at the time, Grant was signed on a two-year contract to provide cover for David de Gea and Sergio Romero.

He went on to sign two further one-year contract extensions but never made a single Premier League appearance.

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The former England Under-21 international did, however, play a few games for the Red Devils in cup competitions and friendlies.

He also appeared as a makeshift fourth official at Old Trafford once, much to the bemusement of United’s fans.

Lee Grant now works as a striker coach

Indeed, Grant truly is a man of many talents because the 40-year-old has now become one of the top striker coaches in English football, per The Sun.

Yep - you read that right: striker coach.

Grant is currently employed as a first-team coach at Ipswich Town, whose impressive young manager Kieran McKenna was on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s coaching staff at Old Trafford.

Ipswich have been automatically promoted from League One this season, finishing second in the table with 101 goals scored from their 46 fixtures.

That’s 19 goals more than League One champions Plymouth Argyle netted this term.

What has Grant said about working as a striker coach?

And one of the coaches who deserves credit for that eye-catching stat is Grant, a proud member of the goalkeepers’ union now working closely with forwards.

“I reckon anybody who would watch one of my sessions or hear the way I communicate with our strikers, the amount of love I give them, they will say my membership to the union would be revoked,” he told The Telegraph. “I think I'm hanging on by a thread at the moment.

“I’ve had a bit of stick from [Ipswich goalkeeper coach] Rene Gilmartin saying I’ve crossed to the dark side.”

Having faced so many strikers over the past 25 years, Grant is able to offer forwards advice from an opposing goalkeeper’s perspective.

He continued: "Across 20 odd years of being in goal and conceding so many goals, I can remember so many so vividly. They are etched into my mind and psyche.

"I use that to help guide the forward players occasionally, for the sorts of outcomes that no goalkeeper would like."

When working with Ipswich’s players, Grant talks about situations that he would least like to face as a ‘keeper.

He added: "We talk about foot patterns, how quickly we can get shots off, arriving onto the ball as quickly as possible, shortening steps.

"I like it when our strikers are dictating to the goalkeepers. I enjoy it when we’re the ones leading the dance.