After serving two seasons as a backup for Ederson at Manchester City, USMNT’s Zack Steffen will have a chance to be the first-choice goalkeeper again. Multiple reports say that City is sending Steffen on loan to English Championship, where he’ll play for Middlesbrough.
According to influential soccer insider Fabrizio Romano, Steffen will spend the entire 2022-23 season with Boro. On the other hand, Man City will sign veteran Stefan Ortega as their new backup. Ortega is set to arrive as a free agent after his contract with Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld expired.
This will be the second loan spell for Zack Steffen since he joined City in 2019. Steffen was previously loaned to Fortuna Düsseldorf, where he had a promising start to the 2019-20 season before suffering a knee injury. The Coatesville, Pennsylvania, native returned to Manchester ahead of the 2020-21 campaign and was installed as the team’s second-choice goalie.
In the past two seasons, Steffen played 21 games in City’s jersey. Most of his appearances came in cup competitions, and he only got two appearances in the Premier League. The 27-year-old kept eight clean sheets while conceding 16 goals.
The loan to Middlesbrough will now give Steffen an opportunity to experience more action and ramp up his form before the upcoming World Cup appearance with the United States men’s national team. He is facing competition from Arsenal’s Matt Turner and Nottingham Forest’s Ethan Horvath for the No. 1 shirt.
