Dean Henderson’s Man Utd woes continue on first return after “criminal” blast

26 September 2023 , 19:25

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Dean Henderson was forced off injured (Image: Ryan Browne/REX/Shutterstock)

Dean Henderson's Manchester United return ended in heartbreak as he was forced off injured in what was his first appearance for new club Crystal Palace.

Henderson joined United's academy at the age of 14, before leaving to join Palace this summer for an initial £15m after a string of impressive loan spells at the likes of Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest. However, Palace boss Roy Hodgson has so far opted to continue using Sam Johnstone in the Premier League, meaning Henderson had to wait for a Carabao Cup game to make his debut.

And with Palace drawn away to United in the third round of the competition, it meant he made his first start for his new club at Old Trafford. However, Henderson unfortunately suffered what appeared to be a muscle injury as he went to clear the ball downfield.

After pulling up, Henderson had a lengthy chat with Palace's medical staff before the decision was made for him to come off. It is yet another setback for the goalkeeper, who had been looking forward to a fresh start at Palace after being left frustrated with his lack of minutes at United.

After starring for Sheffield United in the 2019-20 Premier League campaign, Henderson spent two seasons largely acting as United's backup goalkeeper behind David de Gea. However, he made just 29 appearances in that time and ended up going out on loan again last season to Forest.

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And after joining Forest, he hit out at United for their "criminal" treatment of him, with Henderson only playing three senior games in the 2021-22 season. "I didn't want the manager (Erik ten Hag) to come in and be able to see me in training," he told talkSPORT.

"I knew he'd probably want to keep me, so I tried to do it all before I left for the season. I told all the hierarchy I need to go and play football, I don't want to be here playing second fiddle. It was all planned out.

Henderson was making his debut for Crystal Palace after making a £15m move from Manchester United (Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

"I was almost gone before the manager came through the door and I haven't spoken to him since. To be honest with you, it's probably been the toughest 12 months of my career. It's been tough, it's been hard and I'm so happy I've got out the other end of it. I'm so excited to be here and ready to go.

"The conversation I had coming out of that Euros squad was 'you're coming back here to be the number one goalkeeper'. I got Covid, come back, I should have still been the number one, but unfortunately, no-one followed through with anything they told me.

"It was frustrating because I turned down so many good loans last summer for that reason and they wouldn't let me go. So, it was frustrating. To sit there and waste 12 months, it's criminal really at my age. I was fuming."

Matthew Cooper