Manchester United dealt injury blow that could scupper transfer plans: Reports
Tom Heaton's injury could reportedly affect Dean Henderson's future at Manchester United this summer.
Henderson has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford for a while after failing to install himself as the club's No. 1. David de Gea's exit was swiftly followed by Andre Onana's arrival from Inter Milan.
The Cameroonian goalkeeper will be Erik ten Hag's first-choice goalkeeper next season. Henderson, meanwhile, had been linked with a move to Nottingham Forest — the club he played for on loan last season.
However, the 26-year-old could now be retained by the Red Devils after Heaton suffered a calf injury in a recent training session. Henderson could, hence, serve as Onana's backup in the upcoming campaign.
Henderson has been at Manchester United since 2011 but has earned his stripes while playing on loan for Sheffield United and Forest. He has 190 senior appearances at the club, but only 29 of those have come for United.
Heaton (37) is in the final year of his contract at Old Trafford and looks set to be sidelined for a few weeks. Matej Kovar (23) is another on the club's books, but his move to Bayer Leverkusen is expected to go ahead.
It remains to be seen if the Tricky Trees maintain their interest in Henderson after signing Matt Turner from Arsenal for £10 million.
Dean Henderson has been unhappy with his treatment at Manchester United
Dean Henderson conducted a bombshell interview last year where he took a dig at Manchester United for the way they treated him.
According to Henderson, former mnager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer promised him that he will displace David de Gea as the club's No. 1 goalkeeper for the 2021-22 season, but that didn't happen.
The Englishman travelled with England to the 2020 UEFA Euros, where his campaign was cut short by a hip injury. Later that summer, he contracted Covid-19. In an interview with TalkSPORT in August 2022, Henderson said (h/t SportBible):
"The conversation I had, coming out of the Euros squad (with England), was that you're coming back here (to United) to be the No 1 goalkeeper. I got Covid, then unfortunately no-one followed through with anything they told me.
"It's frustrating as well, because I turned so many good loans down last summer for that reason, and they wouldn't let me go. To sit there and waste 12 months is criminal, really, at my age. I was fuming."
Henderson has two years left in his contract at Old Trafford.