12 Feb 2021 10:56:21
Was having a conversation last night with a few Utd friends about the goalkeeper position next year. It is interesting that there was no real concensus which I suppose highlights the issue currently.
De Gea has improved from last year but still seems fallable and does not command his box, is this partially down to the CB's? Henderson has not exactly shone when he has played but it is difficult to do this when you are just dropped in without getting a run. Much better distributer of the ball than De Gea and does come out for crosses.
The options we discussed for next year was:
1. Keep De Gea and sell Henderson
2. Keep Henderson and sell De Gea (we felt that the value would be similar)
3. Sell Henderson and De Gea and look to bring in Oblak (potential for a swap deal with De Gea going the other way + cash)

Interested to see what your thoughts are.


1.) 12 Feb 2021
12 Feb 2021 11:13:42
Dave the Save has been awesome for the club and I think we have given him the time he deserved following a dip in form post World Cup to bounce back. He hasn't got anywhere near his top form where I believe he was the best in the world.

Sell De Gea in the Summer, bring in Henderson and let him grow into the role. De Gea was at a less developed stage than Henderson is now when he got the No.1 Jersey with Fergie so why can't Henderson progress to similar heights?

I for one would be disappointed to see Henderson leave without being given a full season at No.1 to prove he deserves the spot, and could be with us for the next 10 years!


2.) 12 Feb 2021
12 Feb 2021 11:21:27
Interesting discussion.

Dave has been great for the majority of his time here but he's no longer amongst the best keepers in the world imo.

Our best teams have always had a top class keeper who will save and/ or earn you 10 points per season.

Unfortunately DDG is probably costing us that many this season.

He's on a ridiculous contract until 2023 so it may be a case similar to Maguire, where he needs to be upgraded but the money involved makes it very difficult or impossible.

His Mrs has always wanted to move back to Spain and he may do that eventually but who knows when.


3.) 12 Feb 2021
12 Feb 2021 11:33:33
Interesting post.

DDG has clearly not been as good as he was a few years ago, when he was arguably the best in the world. But does that mean he’s finished?

Dean had a very good season with Sheffield United last season, but does that mean he’s ready?

If it were up to me I’d take the long term approach. We’ve got a lot of players who are yet to peak so going with Dean and letting him grow towards a peak with the likes of Marcus, Mason, etc. is the way I’d go, and hopefully Omit would yield similar results to when Rooney and Ronaldo started to mature together.

The trouble I see is DDG’s wages. Who would pay him what he’s on with us? It will be interesting to see how it pans out.


4.) 12 Feb 2021
12 Feb 2021 11:47:02
Who will pay De Gea’s wages? Or Henderson’s? It would be very difficult to sell either in my opinion unless they were prepared to take a significant pay cut!


5.) 12 Feb 2021
12 Feb 2021 12:26:07
The issue is that while DDG hasn't been terrible, it is clear he is declining.

So the question is how and when do you replace him. If you look to sign an established top level keeper entering their prime with 4-5 years experience at the highest level then you are going to have to throw a lot of money at that keeper to sign them. Jan Oblak is the obvious choice but he would cost upward of 70m. Even then there is no guarantee that he will adapt and be as good in the EPL which in Europe probably gives the least protection to keepers while demanding the most action from them.

Look at Chelsea, they spent 70m to sign Kepa, he looked good for a while but they now look stuck with him not performing and unable to shift him for probably even half of what they paid for him, and historically Chelsea have been pretty good at getting good fees for the players they sell.

So if we aren't going to spend big on a "proven" top level keeper then we will need to look for a project keeper, someone young who can be moulded and developed into a top keeper.

The issue here though is we have one in Henderson, a player who last season was arguably the best English keeper in the EPL, and looked ready for a fresh challenge to keep him developing. Yet this season he hasn't been given the chances he needs to stake a claim, even though DDG has continued to make mistakes costing us points.

So we either have to stick with DDG and sell Henderson (possibly with a buy back clause) or we twist and give Henderson the No.1 shirt.

Chelsea were interested in Henderson last summer before they signed Mendy, so that highlights that other top clubs in England rate him highly.

For me the problem with sticking with DDG for another couple of season's means we lose the future England No.1. Then in 2 years time we will either have to spend 70m on a proven top level keeper, or 30m on a younger one and then let them make the mistakes as they hopefully grow into a top keeper.

That is why I would give Henderson the shirt now, he will probably over the next season or two make as many mistakes as DDG, but at least he will be learning band growing from them hopefully becoming a top class keeper so that in a couple of years time when many of our outfield players are hitting their peaks we will have an established top level keeper behind them ready to push on and win titles.


6.) 12 Feb 2021
12 Feb 2021 14:13:21
Play Henderson at center half, and dump McGuire.


7.) 12 Feb 2021
12 Feb 2021 15:01:23
I must say we never really got into the current wages that they each get and that this would be a hindrence to anyone taking them but I guess this is the problem we are facing with a lot of our players at the minute. Great when we want to entice or keep them, awful when we want to sell.

For what it is worth we seemed to fall on the side of promoting Henderson and with a heavy heart letting De Gea leave (one of us was a very heavy heart as one of the last connections back to Sir Alex! ) . The drop off in the short term would be small if at all but the potential upside would be greater than sticking with De Gea.

Agree that we have issues elsewhere that money needs to be spent on to prevent a big splash on Oblak.