Jack Butland: The story so far

Having broken through with now-Championship side Birmingham City back in 2010, Butland's commitment and desire was regularly commended from an early age, making his reserve-team debut for the Blues aged just 16.

A first professional contract soon followed a year later, while a successful loan spell with Cheltenham Town soon began to raise awareness of his potential. So much so, he made his England Under-21 debut against Azerbaijan back in September 2011.

Returning to St Andrew's brought limited opportunities, but the club rejected Southampton's advances to sign the player. He eventually made his first competitive start on the opening day of the 2012/13 Football League season, in a 1–1 draw at home to Charlton Athletic.

Having been named in Stuart Pearce's 18-man Great Britain squad for the 2012 Olympics, Jack played every one of the side's group matches at the tournament, performing alongside former United legend Ryan Giggs in the process.

Butland was later called up to be part of England's Euro 2012 squad, after John Ruddy broke a finger in the lead-up to the competition. Despite not featuring, he broke the record for the youngest-ever England international goalkeeper at 19 years 158 days, during a 2-1 friendly win over Italy in the run-up to the finals.

He left Birmingham City for Stoke City in January of 2013, for a reported fee of just £3.5 million. Making 168 appearances for the Potters, he also enjoyed further loan spells with Barnsley, Leeds United and Derby County.

Cementing his name as the no.1 at the Bet365 Stadium under then-boss Mark Hughes, Butland has faced the Reds four times in the past, playing both home-and-away clashes in the 2015/16 and the 2017/18 seasons.

His only clean sheet against United came during a 2-0 win for Stoke in December 2015, as goals from Marko Arnautovic and Bojan Krkic condemned us to defeat. 

Further development soon followed in the Potteries and, even following the club's relegation from the top flight back in 2017/18, Butland chose to remain with City in a bid to return to the Premier League.

Jack was again named in England's squad for a major tournament, this time the 2018 World Cup in Russia, despite not making an appearance for Gareth Southgate's side during the tournament.

Butland continued with Stoke for another two seasons in the Championship, before signing for Premier League side Crystal Palace in October 2020.

Having featured 17 times for the Eagles, the shot-stopper now joins United until the end of the 2022/23 season, further bolstering Erik ten Hag's goalkeeping options.