Some club with a truly dire GK situation. I’d expect he must take a significant wage cut if he actually wants to play…
Manchester City have now reached full agreement with Stefan Ortega as new second goalkeeper. Contract set to be completed, but City board still working to find a solution for Zack Steffen. 🔵 #MCFCOrta posted farewell message to Arminia fans as he's ready for Man City move.— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 28, 2022 Would be nice to see some clubs rumored for Steffen at least.
Zack Steffen is set to join Middlesbrough on loan from #ManCity.[via @alex_crook]— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) June 28, 2022
They signed a League Two guy as well. He should start right away. Apparently his mental lapses and salary scared a lot of teams away. Middlesborro wants to go all in for promotion
Salary may not be an issue because Man City will subsidize. Real talk: Although I've been a big Steffen skeptic, this is an important move for both him and the USMNT for World Cup form.
Yeah... considering he was starting in the BL then spent two year with one of the best clubs in the world this move has to be seen as a vote of no-ish confidence. But there are worse leagues you can be sent to. Play well there for a single season and you will likely have a ton of suitors. In short... this is still an opportunity for him. Time to step up.
Probably where he needed to go to be guaranteed of playing time. He's had too many high profile mental mistakes.
MIddlesbrough should be a good fit for Steffen. Solid club that was just outside of the playoffs last season. They have a fairly young squad with a slew of players in the 19-23 range and only have a couple over 30. I suspect adding a few pieces like Steffen could potentially position themselves for a promotion run. Chris Wilder is a decent and respected manager so Steffen should be in good hands. All-in-all not a shabby loan move for Steffen. Their will be tons of pressure on Steffen for club and country. Big season for him. He needs to take full advantage of this opportunity..
Yeah, I think for a fairly veteran keeper, the important thing is just the actual in-game reps more so than the level of play.
Good decision for Man City to cut their losses w/ Steffen because he couldn't have continued as #2 after his debacles last season. They would have been overpaying him as a #3. It wouldn't have been beneficial to either party. This is a job more befitting of Steffen's abilities. If Horvath gets his move to start for a different C'Ship club as rumored, we'll finally be able to compare them at the same level. We already could with Steffen vs. Turner at the int'l level. Turner was objectively superior. Time to separate the wheat from the chaff before the WC. Not having a liability in net will be one of the most important developments.
The issue now becomes if Turner stays at arsenal and just plays a few cup / Europa games, is that enough?
Just like Ryu and Ken in Street Fighter. Also a Championship move will make the ongoing Steffen vs. Horvath debate perhaps even more interesting. Direct league face off potentially! Watch them both notch a howler by halftime.