Dean Henderson may have to settle for a number of months as Manchester United’s second choice goalkeeper with a move to Nottingham Forest looking unlikely before the end of the transfer window, 90min understands.
Henderson was sent on loan by United to the City Ground last season, though an injury triggered Forest into signing Keylor Navas at the time and Henderson failed to make another Premier League appearance beyond the middle of January.
It had been expected that Forest would follow up their interest in the 26-year-old before the start of this season, and while talks have been held between United and Forest, a deal was not agreed. United were seeking a permanent sale but were unable to progress talks in that direction.
Forest have sinced signed Matt Turner from Arsenal and as it stands they are not expected to return with a new offer for Henderson, who is on a bumper contract at Old Trafford.
Henderson wants to play first team football – as he made clear in an interview upon joining Forest on loan last year – but may now have to settle for a place on United’s bench, with Andre Onana signed from Inter to become the successor to David de Gea as the club’s number one.
Tom Heaton remains on United’s books but suffered an injury recently, while Matej Kovar has been sold to Bayer Leverkusen and Nathan Bishop offloaded to Sunderland, making goalkeeping options more limited than they have been in recent years.
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United have in no uncertain terms made it clear to Henderson that he will be the club’s number two if no deal to sell can be reached in the next two weeks, and while the Englishman remains unhappy with the situation he has little choice in the matter – with opportunities at becoming a Premier League number one limited at other clubs. United, meanwhile, are happy to keep the player as a high-level second choice who can provide competition to Onana.
Forest, meanwhile, are looking for another goalkeeper but have Financial Fair Play issues they need to abide by. The cost of a deal for Henderson is prohibitive in terms of both transfer fee and contract, and any deal would be more akin to signing a central midfielder or centre forward given the size of the deal it would take to convince United to sell.
United have found it difficult in recent days to offload players they are looking to sell, with Harry Maguire’s transfer to West Ham now off the table. Donny van de Beek’s move to Real Sociedad is at a sticking point with United pushing for a permanent deal on a player with a poor recent injury record, while interest in Scott McTominay is now limited.
Eric Bailly’s potential departure has also hit an impasse with potential exit routes blocked, though it is understood a move to a Saudi Pro League club is still not completely off the table. Bailly’s potential route to Al Nassr hit a snag this week with the club instead acting on interest in Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte, though there may still be other options for the Ivorian in that league.
Anthony Martial is also subject of interest from Saudi Arabia, and United are aware of the discussions around him. As it stands the only contact for the Frenchman is between intermediaries but United are hopeful they are presented with a lucrative offer.
However, United’s options at centre forward are limited at present with Marcus Rashford not proving a natural fit and new signing Rasmus Hojlund struggling to recover from an injury sustained in pre-season before his arrival at Old Trafford. The club have also yet to make an official decision on the future of Mason Greenwood.
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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Graeme Bailey to discuss Liverpool signing Wataru Endo, Man Utd’s difficulty selling players and West Ham’s pursuit of Mohamed Kudus – and more!
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