•Academy product Henderson helped Sheffield win promotion from the Championship last season
•Manchester United, who are fifth in the league on 45 points, face Tottenham Hotspur on Friday
Image: REUTERS
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has tipped English goalkeeper Dean Henderson to become first choice for club and country after impressing during his loan spell at Sheffield United.
Academy product Henderson helped Sheffield win promotion from the Championship last season and has kept 10 clean sheets for them in the Premier League in the current campaign, second only to Burnley’s Nick Pope.
With David de Gea currently the first choice in Manchester, Solskjaer said no decision had been made where the 23-year-old Henderson would play next season.
“Dean has made some great choices over the years and has developed fantastically,” Solskjaer said ahead of the Premier League’s restart on Wednesday following a coronavirus shutdown.
“This season has proved a great experience for him, he’s done himself some favours with his performances and proved he will be England’s No. 1 and Man United’s No. 1 at some point.”
Manchester United, who are fifth in the league on 45 points, face Tottenham Hotspur on Friday. The Blades resume their campaign at relegation-threatened Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, former England international Gary Neville says words are not enough to combat racism in football and that he is “ashamed” he did not fight harder against it when he was a player.
The former Manchester United defender made the comments in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
“Forget campaigns. Forget words. It has to be actions,” Neville said ahead of the Premier League’s restart on Wednesday following a three-month stoppage due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We need to take a giant leap rather than minute steps each year.
“I’m not going to hide away from it. We need education, we need protocols and processes in place which basically reverse what’s been happening in our country.”
Neville said he should have fought harder against racism during his playing days.
“The reality is we put racial abuse in the same category as the abuse we would receive for playing for Manchester United or England. We didn’t think. We just got on with it,” the 45-year-old said.
“It’s appalling and I’m ashamed of the fact for someone who ... fought for players’ rights at nearly every level, I didn’t fight hard enough on this.”