Exclusive – Manchester United will not transfer the David de Gea list this summer, but the club is still keen to promote home-grown stopper Dean Henderson to number one and is considering options to move on to the long-term Spaniard.
De Gea has been with United since 2011 and has won the club’s player of the year record four times. He had also at one point established himself as the best goalkeeper in the world, but his form has declined and he has been inconsistent for the past three years.
De Gea is no longer the best goalkeeper in the world Alex Pantling / Getty Images
Henderson, who joined United’s academy ranks at the age of 14, has claimed a place after two impressive loan years at Sheffield United and played for the England squad.
The 23-year-old has accepted a backroll for De Gea this season, although United showed Henderson how much they value him by rewarding him with a bumper long-term contract worth £ 100,000 a week, which would be a starting salary at Liverpool, Manchester City or Arsenal.
But Henderson is not happy with being second choice and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently admitted that the goalkeeper is not a patient.
The problem for United is that there is interest in Henderson from other clubs, including Tottenham should Hugo Lloris be on the move for next season, and Henderson wants a regular starting position next season – whether it is United or elsewhere.
Henderson’s growth has given Man Utd a headache Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
90min understands that United want to market Henderson for the first choice and they do not want him to sit as a back-up for another season. But the club also does not want to demote De Gea, who has been a loyal and valued servant for ten years, and see him regularly sit on the bench.
Henderson has been asked to be patient until the summer when United hope that the complicated situation may have developed a little more to come up with a workable solution. Sources have confirmed that the Old Trafford club expects some movement on that front then.
Henderson is currently getting the chance he longs for, with De Gea on personal leave at home in Spain following the birth of his first child recently. The latter has not been expected to return before the international break in March, which means that Henderson is two games in a row of several starts in a row in all competitions – already impressive against Crystal Palace and Manchester City.
How Solskjaer and the coach manager handle that situation when De Gea is back remains to be seen.
Yanay ❤️ 4 • 3 • 21 pic.twitter.com/UPyKjwn4Ws
– David de Gea (@D_DeGea) March 5, 2021
An important issue as it stands now is the lack of alternatives to move on to De Gea. The former club Atletico Madrid have asked to be kept informed of their situation, but it would only be a possible way if existing starter Jan Oblak leaves Wanda Metropolitano – which is likely not given his price tag and the current state of football finances.
The other obvious possibility for De Gea would be Paris Saint-Germain, who are looking for a replacement for the 34-year-old Keylor Navas. The French champions are monitoring De Gea, although another goal for them is AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose future at the San Siro will remain uncertain as long as he has not signed a new contract.
United hope that Donnarumma will not go to Paris as it would turn off one of the few options for De Gea, and news of PSG’s interest in De Gea has appeared in the English press in recent days. A lucrative approach from the French champions would really help solve a problem for United that will need to be addressed during the summer.
Real Madrid and Juventus can be seen as other landing places for the Spaniard, but both seem unlikely given the presence of Thibaut Courtois and Wojciech Szczesny respectively.
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