Manchester United-focused journalist Laurie Whitwell has provided an update regarding the extension of Dean Henderson’s loan spell at Sheffield United during a recent edition of The Athletic’s ‘Talk of the Devils’ podcast.
Henderson spent the 2018/19 season on loan at Sheffield United, with the goalkeeper featuring in all 46 of the Blades’ fixtures during last season’s Championship campaign, helping the club to earn promotion to the Premier League. He subsequently re-joined the club on loan back in July 2019 and he has featured in 28 of the Blades’ 29 games in England’s top flight this season, only missing out on his side’s clash with his parent club back in November thus far.
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As per Transfermarkt, Henderson’s loan deal is set to expire at the end of June, however, as a result of the Premier League’s postponement back in March, seven of the Blades’ remaining Premier League games are now set to take place after that date.
As per Sky Sports, the Premier League has decided to allow players’ loan spells to be extended for the remainder of this season and it appears as though the Blades may take advantage of that ruling, as Red Devils-focused journalist Whitwell provided an update on Henderson’s status during a recent edition of The Athletic’s Talk of the Devils podcast, where he revealed that there have been discussions about extending the goalkeeper’s loan for the remainder of the season, despite the fact that Manchester United and the Blades are currently positioned quite close to one another in the Premier League table.
When discussing Manchester United’s thoughts on extending Henderson’s loan, Whitwell said: “They think that having him there for this end of the season where there’s stuff on the line, Champions League potentially, Europa League for Sheffield United, even though that might impact Manchester United, he should stay there [and] benefit from it.
“Chris Wilder has had a conversation with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday, I think it was, where they basically agreed the broad terms, it still needs to be absolutely finalised.
“The other side of it was, if United feel the need to recall Dean Henderson so that they can get the Champions League place, then something’s not quite right there, because you look at the longer-term picture and clearly they shouldn’t be having to rely on that kind of thing, so I think that’s why they’re allowing the loan to go on to the end of the season.”
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TIF Thoughts…
Only league leaders Liverpool have conceded fewer Premier League goals than Sheffield United have this season. Furthermore, Henderson has kept the joint-highest number of clean sheets in England’s top flight this term.
With that in mind, it may be fair to say that the 23-year-old goalkeeper has played a significant role for the Blades during the 2019/20 campaign and if they do manage to secure his services for the remainder of the season, it could provide the club with a big boost.