Manchester United keeper David De Gea has been in really poor form during the 2019-20 season and many pundits want Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to name Dean Henderson as his new No 1 next season.
Henderson has had a superb time on loan at Sheffield United and is all set to remain at Bramall Lane for one more campaign. But according to many experts, the Man United manager should recall the academy graduate and hand him De Gea’s role.
De Gea’s errors are creeping up with each passing week and there’s a slight chance that he could be shown the door this summer. But according to pundit Paul Merson, Dean Henderson is still not ready to be the No 1 at Old Trafford.
He wrote in his column: “I know David De Gea hasn’t had the best of times and his performance at Wembley last weekend was an absolute howler, but I still think he’s a top, top goalkeeper.
“I’m a big fan of his. He’s made some mistakes and there’s talk of Dean Henderson going back from Sheffield United to Manchester United to replace him.
“But you have to remember, this is Manchester United we are talking about. It’s a different level, one of the biggest clubs in the world and a place where every single mistake is highlighted and picked apart.
“Make a mistake for Sheffield United and what page of the newspaper is that on? Make a mistake at United and it’s on the back page.
“You have to be ready for that and I’m not sure Henderson is. He’s done well at Bramall Lane this season, don’t get me wrong, but I think he needs another 12 months to prove he can do it all again, prove his consistency and then United might have a big decision to make.
“You have to produce week in, week out and I’d like to see Henderson continue doing this.
“Look at keepers like Scott Carson and Ben Foster. At their clubs, they might have 25 shots a game to deal with and they’re both great shot-stoppers.
“But the difference at the highest level is concentration. David James was one of the best I ever saw and played with, but his concentration levels were atrocious. He’d come out of his area and do something stupid because he had to think he was involved in the game.
“That’s what can happen at United. You can have long periods with nothing to do and Henderson hasn’t been in that environment yet.”
Dean Henderson looks all set to play for Sheffield United on yet another loan deal and we do not think Solskjaer will be too eager to call him back.
With such a small summer break, the Man United manager will not want to make any radical changes to his starting XI which is why David De Gea should keep his place at the club for at least one more season.
But with Dean Henderson improving in leaps and bounds, there’s no denying that the 23-year-old looks all set to become the long-term keeper at OT pretty soon.
