Dean Henderson reportedly issues ultimatum to Man Utd boss Solskjaer

The 23-year-old, who enjoyed two successful seasons on-loan at Sheffield United in 2018/19 and 2019/20 respectively, agreed to return to Old Trafford to push United’s Spanish stopper David De Gea all the way for the Red Devils’ number-one jersey.

Unfortunately for Henderson, it hasn’t worked out like that so far. Henderson’s made just two starts in the Premier League for United in 2020/21, leaving the youngster playing second fiddle to De Gea. According to a recent report from the Manchester Evening News, Henderson has already expressed that he is ‘frustrated’ with the ongoing situation to boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Henderson is said to have intimated that unless he is installed as first-choice keeper for the 2021/22 Premier League campaign he will seek a long-term move elsewhere.

Developing Henderson should be high on the Old Trafford agenda

In the 11 competitive appearances Henderson has made so far this term, he has kept five clean sheets. Last year, he even went on to make his senior England debut, coming on as a half time replacement for Nick Pope in a 3-0 friendly victory against the Republic of Ireland. Henderson has been with United for almost ten years now, having joined the Old Trafford academy at the age of 14 from Carlisle United. United have long had a proud history of bringing through homegrown talent, with the backbone of Sir Alex Ferguson’s successful Manchester United era founded upon a golden generation of academy starlets.

From the outside looking in, Henderson’s lucrative new £100,000-a-week contract was a vote of confidence from the United hierarchy in his long-term future at the club. It was a similar deal to the one recently agreed by Mason Greenwood, with Solskjaer keen to help Greenwood fulfil his “phenomenal potential”. Nevertheless, United and Solskjaer clearly feel compelled to continue playing De Gea between the sticks given that he is the club’s highest earner at £375,000-a-week. Solskjaer has said publicly to the media that Henderson “will be United’s next number one”, so something will need to change in the close season for that to happen.

De Gea has been a loyal servant to United and his coming up to his testimonial year for the club. However, the MEN’s story suggests that senior figures in the upper echelons of the Old Trafford hierarchy feel his wage would be better invested elsewhere in the team, whilst allowing Henderson to cement himself in the United first team.

The fly in the ointment for Henderson in 2020/21 has been United’s surprisingly good form. With United sitting in second place, they remain odds-on to clinch a top-four Champions League spot and could still put some pressure on runaway leaders and city rivals, Manchester City. Although the odds from the leading sportsbooks would suggest that is unlikely. FOX Bet, the US-based sports betting analyst, has priced Pep Guardiola’s men as short as -10000 in their EPL Winner market. This would require a punter to wager £1,000 on City just to win £1.

Henderson may see his future elsewhere if De Gea stays this summer

If Solskjaer is not careful, Henderson could be lured away by another EPL rival. The likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and West Ham United could all be on the look-out for new keepers this summer. Spurs’ long-serving Frenchman Hugo Lloris is reaching the end of his time in North London, Chelsea are still far from enamoured with their goalkeeping options in Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy, while West Ham’s first-choice stopper Lukasz Fabianski is out of contract in June.

The reality is that United are only four goals away from conceding as many goals as they did in the 2019/20 campaign, with well over a third of the 2020/21 season remaining. De Gea is still only 30 years old and, like most keepers, should be approaching the peak of his career in the next year or two. It’s highly debatable whether that peak will be served at Old Trafford. He has long been linked with a move to Real Madrid and the Bernabeu giants could certainly return for his signature this summer. Meanwhile city rivals Atletico are also courting his services too. A switch to Barcelona would seem out of the question given that Marc-Andre ter Stegen only recently agreed a new long-term contract, keeping him at the Nou Camp until 2025.