MatÃÂj KovÃ¡à  (born 17 May 2000) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club PSV and the Czech Republic national team.
KovÃ¡à  joined the Manchester United youth system in 2018, from Czech club 1. FC Slovácko. He spent time on loan at Swindon Town, where he made his senior debut, Burton Albion and Sparta Prague. A former Czech youth international, KovÃ¡à  represented his country from under-18 to under-21 level.
KovÃ¡à  began his career with 1. FC Slovácko in his native Czech Republic, but moved to England to join Manchester United in January 2018 at the age of 17. After being an unused substitute for the under-19s in a 2017âÂÂ18 UEFA Youth League match against rivals Liverpool on 21 February 2018, he made his debut for the club's under-18s side in a 4âÂÂ1 league win at home to Everton three days later. He played in all but two of the team's remaining matches that season, replacing Alex FojtÃÂÃÂek as first-choice goalkeeper. KovÃ¡à  was again the first-choice goalkeeper for the reserve team the following season, playing in 17 of their 22 league matches; he also played in six of the seven matches for the under-19s in the 2018âÂÂ19 UEFA Youth League.
In 2019âÂÂ20, he played in 11 of the 17 league matches the reserves played before the season was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, as well as all four matches they played in the 2019âÂÂ20 EFL Trophy, in which they came up against the senior sides of the teams in EFL League One and Two. His performances for the reserves earned him a new contract with the club, signed in October 2019. With the first team's qualification for the knockout phase of the 2019âÂÂ20 UEFA Europa League secure, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær selected a young team for their matchday 5 game against Astana in Kazakhstan on 28 November 2019; KovÃ¡à  was named on the bench as back-up for Lee Grant, but did not play in the match.
Ahead of the 2020âÂÂ21 season, KovÃ¡à  moved on loan to Swindon Town in August 2020. He made his debut on 5 September 2020, in a 3âÂÂ1 defeat against Charlton Athletic in the EFL Cup. In January 2021, KovÃ¡à  was recalled by Manchester United after making 21 appearances for Swindon.
KovÃ¡à  was named in United's final Premier League squad submitted after the end of the transfer deadline for the 2021âÂÂ22 season. On 31 January 2022, KovÃ¡à  signed a new contract with United until June 2023 and moved on loan to Burton Albion until the end of the season.
On 9 September 2022, KovÃ¡à  moved on loan to Czech club Sparta Prague. He made his debut on 10 September 2022, in a 2âÂÂ2 away draw against FK Teplice in the Czech First League. KovÃ¡à  helped the club to win its first championship title since 2014. He was awarded as the goalkeeper of the 2022âÂÂ23 season by League Football Association (LFA).
On 15 August 2023, KovÃ¡à  signed a four-year contract with German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. A transfer fee of up to ã7.7 million, including add-ons, was agreed between United and Leverkusen.
On 15 July 2025, KovÃ¡à  joined Dutch Eredivisie club PSV on loan, with an option to buy.
On 13 January 2026, KovÃ¡à  signed a permanent contract with PSV until June 2030.
KovÃ¡à  has represented the Czech Republic at under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 youth levels. He was a member of the Czech squad at the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in March 2021, but did not make any appearances in the tournament. He made his debut for the under-21 team in September 2021 against Slovenia.
KovÃ¡à  was first called up to the Czech Republic senior team on 8 September 2021 for a friendly match against Ukraine after TomÃ¡à ¡ VaclÃÂk suffered an injury. He debuted on 26 March 2024 in a friendly match against Armenia. On 29 May 2024, KovÃ¡à  was included in the final Czech squad for the UEFA Euro 2024, making his competitive debut in a 1âÂÂ2 loss against Turkey which led the Czech Republic to be eliminated from group stage.
Sparta Prague
Bayer Leverkusen
PSV
Individual