In one of the Premier League's marquee matches on Saturday (13th), Manchester United put in an excellent performance to beat Wolves 2-0. The victory not only brought the team a big step forward to the top four spots, but also brought a bright spot to goalkeeper Dikia, who has been criticized recently! Dikia has now kept a clean sheet in 16 consecutive matches this season, and is a lock for the Golden Glove award three rounds ahead of schedule. This is the second time in his Premier League career that he has won this award, and United boss Tannhäuser has re-emphasized Dikia's status as a starter, and the two sides are said to be actively discussing a contract extension.
However, in the last match against Westham, a cheap mistake by Dikia led to a 0-1 loss, and he has made five mistakes leading to goals conceded this season, sparking discontent among fans. But there's no denying that Dikia's stats are still outstanding. Against Wolves on Saturday, he recorded his 16th clean sheet of the season, at least three ahead of the rest of the goalkeepers, and sealed his second Golden Glove award since 17/18. Although Elisenbiga, Nick Puppy and Lansdal have each kept 13 clean sheets, they will have to keep consecutive clean sheets in the final three rounds to equal Dickia, who needs just one more clean sheet to take home the award.
Dikia, 32, has just one month left on his contract with United, but the two sides are reportedly very close to extending it. Dikia will accept a one-year extension on a reduced salary of £200,000 (about HK$1.95 million) per week. Tannhäuser has no doubt about his trust in him, and there were even rumors before the match that Dikia would be dropped for mistakes, but Tannhäuser was adamant: "I never thought of dropping Dikia, he's a non-selectable starting goalkeeper!"
Despite this, Tannhäuser remains adamant in his desire to keep Dikia, and given that he still earns a whopping £200,000 a week, there is a good chance that he will continue to feature as a starting goalkeeper next season. However, United are also looking to keep the team alive by bringing in new contenders, with Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa, Spanish goalkeeper David Laye, Croatian goalkeeper Levar Govic and Swiss goalkeeper Kiko Gobao all potential targets.
Below is a list of the last 10 winners of the Premier League Golden Glove Award:
Season | Gold Glove Winners (Club) | No Loss Pitches
22/23 | Dikia (Manchester United) | 16 games*
21/22 | Addams Morath (Man City), Ellichenbigar (Liverpool) | 20 games
20/21 | Addams Morris (Manchester City) | 19 games
19/20 | Addams Morris (City) | 16 games
18/19 | Alisson Biggar (Liverpool) | 21 games
17/18 | Dikia (Manchester United) | 18 games
16/17 | Tybalt Tulls (Chelsea) | 16 games
15/16 | George (Arsenal) | 16 games
14/15 | Hector (Man City) | 14 games
13/14 | George (Chelsea), Stastny (Arsenal) | 16 matches
