I must say, this did kind of take me by surprise.
A former Owl saying something that could be of great benefit to the Blades? Well now I may well and truly have seen everything. Former Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United goalkeeper Chris Turner has been talking about the predicament that Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finds himself in at Old Trafford when it comes to the goalkeeping position.
Speaking to The Mirror, Turner said that if Blades number one Dean Henderson doesn’t see himself getting past Manchester United’s number one, then he doesn’t see Henderson sticking around, but he can’t see the Spaniard leaving Old Trafford either:
“He’s on contract at United for another two years but clearly he is making great strides and is proving himself a top keeper in the making. In many ways he’s in a great position but his next step is vital and the worry for United is that if he doesn’t see a way past De Gea he’ll want to leave. He won’t be happy to go back and sit in United’s reserves… I can’t see Solskjaer shoving De Gea out of the first team to make way for Dean. He’s recently signed a big long-term deal and is firmly established.”
Will the Blades be able to keep hold of Henderson in the summer?
Yes
No
Henderson has previously said that he wants to come back to Bramall Lane if he doesn’t get past De Gea in the depth chart at Manchester United, so this should be very welcome news to Blades fans.
I’ve said before on this issue, that I don’t see this situation playing in Sheffield United’s favour if we simply delay this for another 12 months, we need to go out and get him this summer (or whenever the transfer window does take place if you want to follow Gary Neville’s idea) rather than bringing him in on another loan otherwise we’re just going to be going through the same routine this time next year.
Former Blades boss Neil Warnock says (27/02/2020, 8:30am) that Blades should sign him ‘whatever the cost’, and whilst I have suggested that we do have backup options to choose from if we don’t bring him back, I do get the sense that Henderson should be our number one target going into the window.
Now it’s just a case of whether or not we’ll be able to afford him if and when we do decide to buy him.