Man Utd consider keeping De Gea and making Henderson No 1 due to tight summer budget
The majority of Manchester United fans won’t want to hear it, but while the club remain keen to sign a new goalkeeper this summer, they are also open to David de Gea staying put and even Dean Henderson starting next season as their number one.
i understands Inter Milan’s Andre Onana tops a list of potential targets to be De Gea’s long-term successor, with talks with the Serie A side ongoing.
However, with budgets tight due to Financial Fair Play regulations and Mason Mount’s signing eating into those funds, the club is exploring all options – including keeping things very much as they are.
Despite everything he has done for the club during 12 years in Manchester, many fans want to see the back of De Gea, seen as a goalkeeper of yesteryear given his flaws with the ball at his feet.
The Spaniard’s lucrative contract expired at midnight on 30 June, freeing up a substantial chunk of the wage budget. De Gea could be asked to re-sign on much lower terms.
With De Gea omitted from the club’s retained list, those keen to say thank you but goodbye to the 32-year-old thought they had got their wish.
It is understood the framework of a contract extension that had been agreed was subsequently changed by the club at the 11th hour.
Remarkably though, sources have told i talks over a new deal will continue after this weekend, as De Gea is getting married back in Spain and the club do not want to intrude on private family time.
With United keen to boost their £120m transfer kitty with some player sales, Henderson was expected to complete a permanent switch to Nottingham Forest, where he spent last season on loan, impressing before injury cut short his campaign.
Nonetheless, United’s struggles to work within a tighter transfer budget, and uncertainty remaining around De Gea’s future have ensured Henderson could well be required after all and not just as an understudy, i understands.
Even if De Gea remains in Manchester he would not necessarily be seen as first choice.
Henderson has waited long enough for his shot as a first-team regular at United and has been vocal about his lack of opportunities at the club. That chance, even if it is not the preferred option the club would pick, may finally present itself in August.
