‘It’s a nice hobby’: Manchester United’s Janina Leitzig on goalkeeping and gardening

Former Leicester player’s focus has moved from runner beans to running drills as the season approaches

With some parts of England gearing up for a fifth heatwave of 2026, the new Manchester United goalkeeper Janina Leitzig, a keen gardener, is sympathetic to the precarious health of this reporter’s tomato plants. “You’re not used to so little rain, are you?” she observes. For the time being, after her summer move to Manchester, the former Germany youth international does not have a garden of her own, but she reveals that, during her three-and-a-half-year spell at her former club Leicester, homegrown vegetables were her pride and joy.

“I love to do some gardening. Back home, everyone has their own vegetables and it’s just better, it tastes better,” she tells the Guardian. “Being away from home and away from family, of course you have your football friends, but still it can be quite lonely sometimes if you come home from training, so it was really nice to have a garden and to spend time outside. It’s not too much effort, it’s just a nice hobby.”