Journalist Daniel Storey has given his verdict on Manchester United’s dilemma surrounding David de Gea and Dean Henderson.
Storey was recently present on the latest episode of the ‘Totally Football Show’ podcast and he was talking about Man United’s recent 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur. The discussion led to him talking about United’s goalkeeping issues, as De Gea was at fault for Spurs’ opening goal.
The game saw Steven Bergwijn open the scoring in the first-half for Jose Mourinho’s men, thanks to De Gea’s error. But Bruno Fernandes’ second-half penalty helped United pick up a point from their trip to North London (via The Telegraph).
When addressing the goalkeeping issues at Old Trafford, Storey initially talked about De Gea. He said: “Of all the summers to sell David de Gea, this is probably the least likely with the new kind of austerity of transfer budgets, which I suspect is going to be enforced right across Europe.
“There are only one or two clubs who would buy him anyway, and I’m not sure they will have enough money or enough need to spend that money on a goalkeeper, so I think he’s probably going to stay for a while and if you’re going to keep him, he will start. I’ve got no doubt of that. I don’t see any value in dropping him, really.”
Should United replace De Gea with Henderson next season?
No, keep De Gea as first-choice
Yes, Henderson should become the first-choice
Storey then talked about Henderson, stating his feelings that the Englishman is helped by being at Sheffield United – where he is currently on loan from United.
He said: “I think Dean Henderson is a good goalkeeper, but I think it helps him being at Sheffield United at the moment, rather than being at Manchester United. I think his reputation will never be higher because he does make mistakes.
“He made a couple of horrendous mistakes in the Under-21 Euros last summer and he’s made the odd one at Sheffield United. So, I think it helps him to be where he is, but I guess they’ve got a decision to make down the line but I still think De Gea will stay as number one for a while.”
Evidently, Storey is in favour of United keeping De Gea as their first-choice goalkeeper. The pandemic has affected football finances and it might be tough for clubs to sign the Spaniard at this point of time.
TIF Thoughts…
It has not only been in the Spurs fixture in which De Gea has made a mistake, as he was also at fault in United’s 1-1 draw against Everton earlier in the season. He had also come up with an error against Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League last season. So, clearly, the Spaniard has previous form of making mistakes.
Meanwhile, Henderson has been a regular for Sheffield United this season, having made 29 appearances in the league. He has picked up a Whoscored rating of 6.77, which is decent, and the fact that he is only 23-years-old means that he will likely only improve with time.
De Gea is now 29 and is not getting any younger with every passing day. So if his performances continue to dip, Henderson could return from Sheffield United and play between the sticks regularly for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men.