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Sheffield United and 2 other ideal summer destinations for out-of-favour Leeds custodian

Andy Lonergan

3 Ideal Summer Destinations For Leeds United’s Andy Lonergan

Andy Lonergan’s deal to head off to Sunderland on deadline day collapsed, leaving the experienced ‘keeper with the prospect of not much football between now and April.

He was due to join Chris Coleman’s men on an 18-month contract, however, he has played all but a couple of his career league games in the Championship and so may well have been looking for another move anyway come the summer if the Black Cats are relegated.

Lonergan only signed for Leeds last summer from Wolverhampton Wanderers but has found himself playing second fiddle to German stopper Felix Wiedwald for much of the campaign and in need of minutes. He has stressed the need to leave to achieve this and Thomas Christiansen by all accounts has no problem with this, especially given the faith he has in his junior goalkeepers.

Given that he has been at this level all his life and is not necessarily slowing down just yet, here are three clubs which could be ideal for him next term:

Preston North End

Lonergan, of course, started his career at his hometown club of Preston before moving for his first spell at Leeds back in 2011.

There’s no real reason why he shouldn’t have a homecoming at Deepdale and put in a great shift for the club in what may be a promotion attempt under manager Alex Neil next season.

Sheffield United

The Blades started out this season with loan man Jamal Blackman in goal before the Chelsea youngster was overtaken in the pecking order by Simon Moore.

The fact that this has happened at all means manager Chris Wilder clearly didn’t quite have 100% faith in either of them and with little changing in the meantime; he may be looking for a new stopper in the summer.

Wilder appears to only bring in players whose first language is English and so Lonergan would be on a list of his somewhere, I’m sure.

Wigan Athletic

Assuming the Latics confirm their promotion back to the second tier they would be a good option for Lonergan. Clubs of this type with momentum can often go on to have good seasons at this level and the ‘keeper would add further quality to their ranks.

Wigan have been a regular Premier League member before in years gone by so I’m sure if Lonergan joined, others would follow suit really rather quickly.