Jack Butland 'forced to delete old Manchester United tweet' ahead of Old Trafford move

Crystal Palace shot-stopper Jack Butland was left red-faced after an old tweet emerged ahead of his shock loan move to Manchester United.

Martin Dubravka’s season-long loan spell at Old Trafford was cut short after Newcastle on Sunday confirmed that the Slovakia international had been recalled.

United manager Erik ten Hag wasted no time in finding a replacement for Dubravka and Butland was identified as a potential No 2 choice to David de Gea.

Butland, who moved to Crystal Palace in 2020 from Stoke City, underwent a medical at United on Thursday ahead of his proposed move to Old Trafford.

However, fans discovered a now-deleted tweet from 2017 where the 29-year-old former Stoke City star claimed he would never move to United to be a No 2.

Twitter user Richard Farrell asked the Crystal Palace player if he would consider a transfer to Old Trafford and if he would be happy playing second fiddle to De Gea.

Responding to the tweet, the soon-to-be United ‘keeper wrote: “[I] would never move to be a number 2.”

Butland’s tweet has since been deleted but not before it made the rounds on social media and was met with a mixed reception from fans.

“Number 3 considering [Sergio] Romero was here at the time,” one fan said.

Another argued: “That’s 2017, bro, things change.”

“There was a time I’d entertain Butland to Arsenal. Massive bullet dodged,” a third Twitter user posted.

While one fan simply wrote: “There’s always a tweet.”

And a fifth commented: “This aged well.”

Speaking at his press conference on Thursday, Ten Hag confirmed that Butland would sign for United after Dubravka’s spell was cut short.

When asked about signing Butland, the United boss said: “Martin was recalled and we need three experienced goalkeepers.

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“I’m really happy with David. It’s quite clear he’s our No 1.

“He’s a really good performer but there’s always something that can happen with David as well and you have to be prepared for that so you don’t have one.”

Butland, who hasn’t made a single Premier League appearance this season, is out of contract with Crystal Palace in the summer.