I said earlier today that the delay of the Premier League season could mean a bit of a dead-end for a player like Ben Osborn as he tries to make his way into the first team given Enda Stevens’ injury.
However, there’s another player that could have his long-term future affected by all this, and that’s Blades’ stopper Dean Henderson, who by some accounts was on his way to becoming England’s number one at this summer’s European championships.
However, with them being postponed until next year, this poses a very serious question as to whether or not Henderson will be able to keep his theoretical place as one of the three goalkeepers in the squad.
Let’s not forget that a lot of things can change in the space of a year. If you take a look at the England squad that went to the Nations League Finals in Portugal last summer, and then compare it to the list of players that were predicted to go to this summer’s European Championships, you can see the amount of turnover in players, whether that be through injury, suspension or they’ve fallen out of form with their club sides.
Will Dean Henderson be England's number one in the future?
Yes
No
Aston Villa goalkeeper Tom Heaton was part of that squad, but it was his injury that has helped propel Henderson up the list of potential goalkeepers for Gareth Southgate’s squad, so given that all internationals have been delayed or cancelled as a result, he’s going to get time with Aston Villa to get his form back and put himself back in contention to be in the squad. And seeing as he never technically ‘lost’ his place, who is to say that he won’t be slotted straight back into things and have Henderson drop down the pecking order?
Whilst Henderson’s form this season has been great to see, we don’t know if he, or indeed the rest of the team as I’ve spoken about before, are going to be able to carry on that form into next season and make the prospect of him in the England squad a possibility again.
So his chance at an England call up might be fading away before he even had a chance to grab it.