Dubravka becomes first Slovakian Red

The 33-year-old starts between the sticks for the first time since joining from Newcastle United on a season-long loan during the summer transfer window. The keeper has represented his country 30 times and played 130 times for the Magpies in all competitions, keeping 37 clean sheets. and will, therefore, become the first-ever Red from Slovakia to make an appearance for the first team.

The central European country will be the 44th modern-day nation to boast a United player, although there have been several youth-teamers from Slovakia in recent years, including Alex Fojticek and Martin Svidersky.

Here are the last five nations to be represented at the football club…

IRAQ

Academy midfielder Zidane Iqbal was eligible to represent England, Pakistan or Iraq at international level, but received a passport for the latter country in May 2021 and played Under-23s football for the Asian side later that year, even captaining them. He made his Reds debut as a substitute in the 1-1 draw with Young Boys in the Champions League and then impressed on our pre-season tour, having made his full international bow for the Lions of Mesopotamia in January 2022.

TUNISIA

Hannibal was a France Under-17 international when he joined United from Monaco in the summer of 2019, but two years later he elected to represent Tunisia - which is the country his parents were born in – at senior level. He actually made his United debut before he’d pulled on the shirt of the African giants, in the 2-1 final-day victory at Wolves in May 2021, but his subsequent two Reds appearances came after he impressed for the Eagles of Carthage at the Arab Cup and Africa Cup of Nations.

NIGERIA

Six African players played for United between 1999 and 2020, but none were from Nigeria – a strange anomaly considering the rich seam of Super Eagles talent that has played in the Premier League over the years. Odion Ighalo changed that when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought him in on loan in the January window of 2020. The experienced striker proved a useful squad addition, especially in the cups, scoring five goals in 23 games and having his deal extended before eventually departing for Al Shabab.

CHILE

United signed Angelo Henriquez from Universidad de Chile in 2012 but, despite a number of pre-season run-outs, the forward failed to make a competitive appearance prior to departing for Dinamo Zagreb on a permanent deal in 2015. The South American nation had to wait a further three years to have one of its players on the Reds teamsheet, with Alexis Sanchez joining from Arsenal in a swap deal with the fifth and final name on this list…

ARMENIA

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the only Armenian ever to appear in the Premier League, with exactly half of his 78 top-flight games coming while he was contracted to United. Despite memorable strikes against Spurs and Sunderland, ‘Mkhi’ saved his best for the 2016/17 Europa League campaign, top-scoring for the Reds with six goals as we went on to lift the trophy for the very first time.

Other nations that have been added to the Reds rollcall in the last 10 years are Germany (Bastian Schweinsteiger), Colombia (Radamel Falcao), Switzerland (Saidy Janko), Ivory Coast (Wilfried Zaha) and Japan (Shinji Kagawa).