31 August 2023 , 08:37
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer raised eyebrows two years ago when he, while Manchester United manager, claimed he had "two number one goalkeepers" in David de Gea and Dean Henderson.
The comments sparked plenty of debate over whether it would be wise to have two 'keepers he deemed of a starting quality battling it out for the one spot. Solskjaer seemed to encourage the idea of Henderson pushing De Gea as close as possible and publicly warned the Spaniard that the younger Englishman had more than enough talent to be relied upon.
Speaking at the tail-end of the 2020/21 campaign, the then-United boss claimed: "I've got two great keepers, two numbers ones, David de Gea spent a while back home and then he had internationals so he hadn't played for about a month. He'll definitely play football for us again."
"I have the option of two top goalkeepers and of course both of them want to play as much as possible – that will be decided on merit, hopefully we have nine plus five games to go, as we want to go all the way in the Europa League, so I’m sure you’ll see both of them play in goal."
Two years on, those comments look particularly foolish, as does the debate surrounding which one would win the battle to become first-choice, as Solskjaer's permanent successor Erik ten Hag has answered that question in emphatic fashion - neither of them.
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The Dutchman spent one season with De Gea between the sticks, during which there was always reports claiming Ten Hag was never entirely convinced by what he saw. As for Henderson, he was sent out on loan soon after the ex-Ajax boss arrived in the Old Trafford hot-seat and the pair barely crossed paths.
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Both David de Gea and Dean Henderson have now left Man Utd (Getty Images)De Gea was the first to leave, with the Spain international walking away for nothing at the exipiration of his contract. His exit was marred by claims that United had initially offered him a new deal, only to withdraw it before allegedly offering another with less favourable terms.
In the very same summer, Henderson has followed De Gea out of the exit door. The duo that were both tipped to push each other to goalkeeping greatness, with the elder expected to pass over the baton to the younger when the time came, have now both been given the boot.
Unlike De Gea, Henderson has managed to garner a fee for United, with Crystal Palace parting ways with an initial £15million fee, which could rise to £20m to bring the England international to Selhurst Park. For all of Solskjaer's praise, De Gea remains without a club at the time of writing.
Nowadays, in their place is Andre Onana, a goalkeeper Ten Hag worked closely with at Ajax. So far, so good for the Cameroon international who is every inch the modern goalkeeper and the undisputed number one.