David De Gea Man United
David De Gea Man United

Man United beat AC Milan in the Round of 16 of the Europa League and this two-legged tie could turn the fate of goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

The academy graduate was not allowed to leave on loan this season and up until now, he was playing only the second string matches for the OT side. But his performance against Milan in the second leg at the San Siro has led many people to believe that the keeper has taken over David De Gea as the current No 1 at the club.

Paul Scholes is one such pundit who thinks De Gea’s time at Man United is up and after Henderson’s performances in the past few matches, the 24-year-old is not likely to be benched anymore.

He told BT Sport, as quoted: “I think it’s Henderson now. I think he’s taken over. I thought David had been lucky after the Everton game to keep his place. He made a couple of mistakes where he could’ve done better.

“Not glaringly obvious mistakes, but I just feel a bit more confident with Henderson there. It seems a little bit more relaxed. I don’t want to have a go at David, David has been an amazing keeper for United, he’s been brilliant and he still will be if Dean doesn’t take his chance.

“I just think the time has come to give him a run of games in the team and see how he does. He’s been picked in the England squad, and I think he possibly should be the No.1 for England as well if he can maintain this form.

“He made a mistake in the first game, we know that, but he’s shown great character to come back. Again, he’s been really calm tonight, done everything he needed to do and just been quite safe.”

 

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Everyone knew that Dean Henderson was going to be the long-term replacement to David De Gea at Man United and the Spaniard’s recent trip to Spain for the birth of his first child has allowed Solskjaer to test Henderson at the top level over a lengthy period of time.

De Gea was available for the second leg but Ole still chose to go ahead with Dean Henderson in goal and this is a clear sign that the 24-year-old is rapidly moving up the order.

We thought the Man United manager will wait until the end of the season to push De Gea down the pecking order but by the looks of it, Dean Henderson might have already taken over.

Next up, Man United take on Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday and Dean Henderson is likely to remain in goal for this one as well.

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