The goalkeeping situation at Manchester United remains a puzzle for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ever since Dean Henderson returned to the club from his two-year loan spell at Sheffield United, there has not been a clear number one between the posts at Old Trafford.
Naturally, the competition for the first-team gloves has been between Henderson and David de Gea. Each of them played a decent amount of football last season although it is expected that both of them would have wanted to play more.
In terms of competition within Manchester United’s goalkeeping department, not much has changed over the summer. Tom Heaton has arrived but he is not expected to be a starter for the Red Devils.
What has changed though is the fact that De Gea has been absolutely brilliant this season despite the club’s poor run of form and appears to be back to his best and might be undroppable right now. This has resulted in Henderson struggling to get first-team minutes and as a result, he has been linked with a move away from the club.
Henderson tipped to leave Manchester United in January
Former England and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, believes that Henderson will leave the club on loan in January. While speaking with Football Insider, he said:
"“I cannot see Henderson leaving permanently because I think he’s the long-term solution for them. It is not an ideal situation having him sat on the bench though so I think he’ll go out on loan. Henderson needs to play with a World Cup coming up.”"
It is safe to say that at this point of time, De Gea looks like he is back to his very best. The defence in front of him has not performed well this season and he might have managed to keep just one clean sheet but at times, he has single handedly kept them in games and made match altering contributions.
Thus, it is hard to see De Gea being dropped from the starting XI anytime soon and as a result, a loan move away from Manchester United in January might be the right move for Henderson right now.