One cannot blame Dean Henderson or Donny van de Beek for being unhappy at their lack of game time at Manchester United.
For Henderson, this season presented a glorious chance at becoming United’s first choice goalkeeper. Then COVID-19 struck before the campaign got started. It took him time to fully recover but David de Gea got back to his best during that period.
Now, as a result of De Gea’s unbelievable form, Henderson’s role as second choice keeper can’t be argued.
Ralf Rangnick was asked about Henderson’s future after it was reported that the keeper stormed out of training on Sunday after finding out De Gea was set to start against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, as per Caught Offside.
He said (via Manchester Evening News): “I told him that I would like him to stay. He is a fantastic goalkeeper, would really like to have him on board.
“I can fully understand why he wants to play at his age, but we are still in three competitions. I can understand his desire to get regular game time.”
As for Donny, it doesn’t look like he has done enough to impress his second manager at United, even if Rangnick says he wants to keep hold of the midfielder in January.
The interim manager added: “It is the same situation as with Dean. I am glad to have him in the squad, he is always performing at a high level in training.
“I had a conversation two weeks ago and advised him to stay until the end of the season. He wants to play in the World Cup and Louis van Gaal told him he needs to regularly play. I understand it, but we have a lot of competition in our squad.”
