“He’s a lot more proven” – Noel Whelan urges Premier League club to drop interest in Manchester United star and snap up 30-year-old instead
Former striker Noel Whelan has urged Newcastle United to drop the idea of signing Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson, suggesting they should instead sign Burnley's Nick Pope. Whelan believes Nick Pope is 'a lot more proven' than Dean Henderson and the cash-rich EPL club should sign him ahead of the new season.
Burnley finished 18th in the English Premier League table, joining Watford and Norwich City in relegation. Burnley's relegation could make things easier for Newcastle if and when they decide to go for Nick Pope as their preferred goalkeeper choice.
Newcastle United have found new owners with deep pockets and are expected to shelve out huge sums of money to build up a formidable squad for the future. Dean Henderson has been Newcastle United's primary target after the Englishman expressed his desire to leave Manchester United.
The 25-year-old English goalkeeper has been vocal about him getting less game time at Old Trafford and is considered to be one of the players looking for a way out this summer. Newcastle United are leading up to signing him as their mainstay goalkeeper for next season (according to Manchester Evening News).
The aforementioned report also mentions that Newcastle approached Manchester United in the January window for Henderson. However, the move fell through when the Magpies' first-choice stopper Martin Dubravka refused to be part of a swap deal.
However, former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan believes the Magpies should instead go for a more 'proven' goalkeeper. Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Whelan said:
“If you’re going to spend £20million on Dean Henderson, you’d rather go out and get Nick Pope, wouldn’t you? Look at some of the saves he’s made. For me, he’d be the first port of call if I’m Newcastle United.''
“He’s the one who is Burnley’s main player. He gave them a fighting chance with some of his performances just like Jordan Pickford. They’ve got to enquire about him. He’s a lot more proven and tried and tested in the Premier League when you compare him with Henderson, too.”
Mark Ogden reveals dressing rooms issues of Manchester United leading to their shameful performance in EPL
Journalist Mark Ogden has made shocking revelations about the 'awful' dressing room issues at Manchester United which eventually affected their performance on the pitch. Odgen revealed that the British players stuck together in the dressing room while players from different countries took 'leads from Cristiano Ronaldo'.
He also gave legitimacy to the rumors, suggesting that many of the players expressed their displeasure with Harry Maguire and asked him to step down from the captaincy.
Source: “The British players tended to stick together. Many of the foreign lads took their lead from Ronaldo. There was a lot of upset when it was reported that some of the squad weren't happy with Maguire as captain, but that was the reality of the situation.” [@MarkOgden_]
Players were not happy with interim manager Ralf Rangnick's outspoken stance during the press briefings and the rifts began to grow amongst players.
Several players had become angered by Rangnick's outspoken comments in news conferences and tensions within the squad began to grow, with splits exacerbated by Rangnick's remarks about a variety of players including Ronaldo, Maguire, Rashford and Cavani [@MarkOgden_]