De Gea rival ‘PERPLEXED’ by Man Utd transfer talk

Tom Hancock

• Updated: 26 Jun 2023 20:13 BST
• 3 min read

Dean Henderson seems to be planning for a permanent departure from Manchester United this summer.

The goalkeeper spent last season on loan at Nottingham Forest and doesn’t appear to have any future with Man Utd – where he came through the academy and made his first-team debut in 2020.

It has been suggested that Henderson could stay at Old Trafford – something which doesn’t appear to have gone down too well with the 26-year-old.

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Per the Manchester Evening News, Henderson – who has two years left to run on his contract and an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €18.1m (£15.5m) is ‘perplexed’ by such suggestions.

Indeed, the report adds that United intend to offload the one-cap England international during the current transfer window.

Henderson is said to expect to move to Forest on a permanent basis, having played a significant role in keeping Steve Cooper’s side in the Premier League last term – before injury saw him make way for Keylor Navas in the second half of the campaign.

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Henderson held up by United's sticky situation between the sticks

While Henderson still looks likely to leave Man Utd before the end of the window, the club’s current goalkeeping situation may complicate matters.

As it stands, David de Gea is about to become a free agent – and, if he does, Erik ten Hag will have just one other senior ‘keeper at his disposal: the veteran Tom Heaton.

Until that particular problem is solved, Henderson – who this time last year was raging at United after they allegedly promised to make him their number one for 2022/23, only to persist with De Gea – may have to stick around to help make up the numbers.