Chelsea ponder sweet deal for Reds’ keeper
REDS BOSS REFUSES TO DISCUSS DE GEA AHEAD OF CRUNCH HAMMERS CLASH
CHELSEA are prepared to more than double Dean Henderson’s wages in an attempt to prise him away from United.
The M.E.N. understands Chelsea have made contact with Henderson’s representatives amid Frank Lampard’s dissatisfaction with the £71million Kepa Arrizabalaga, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper. Henderson, 23, is believed to currently earn around £70,000 a week but Sheffield United have paid the majority of his salary over the last year and Chelsea are ready to entice him with £170,000-a-week wages.
Lampard has tasked Chelsea with gauging the possibility of a move for Henderson in the event Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stays loyal to the faltering United number one David de Gea.
Solskjaer has repeatedly insisted Henderson will become a future firstchoice goalkeeper at United but the club finalised a four-year deal with De Gea in September and Sergio Romero’s contract runs out next year.
Henderson will return to United once his loan with Sheffield United ends next week but, as the M.E.N. revealed in January, the England international has no intention of staying just to compete with De Gea.
A source close to Henderson told the M.E.N. he is ‘desperate’ to play for United but if they cannot assure him of a firstteam place he will seek a permanent move elsewhere. Henderson is contracted to United until 2022 with the option of an additional year.
The M.E.N. reported last month United are willing to offer Henderson a new deal to reflect his Premier League and international status.
Henderson is joint-second in the Premier League clean sheets table and received his first call-up to the England squad in October.
Solskjaer warned De Gea, 29, about his form after he committed another howler in Sunday’s subdued FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea.
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer refused to discuss David de Gea’s situation at United ahead of their final Premier League fixture at Old Trafford this season.
De Gea dropped another clanger by conceding to Chelsea forward Mason Mount in United’s FA Cup semi-final defeat and his form has been problematic for upwards of a year.
The 29-yearold signed a four-year contract with United in September but his No.1 status is looking increasingly uncertain with
Sergio Romero available to replace De Gea against West Ham and Dean Henderson due to return from his year-long loan at Sheffield United next week.
“This is not going to become a David de Gea press conference,” Solskjaer stressed when asked how De Gea had dealt with the fallout from another error. “We’re just going to stick together. We have got two games and we are just going to focus on them. David’s mentally strong enough to know that his job is to perform in training the next day and then be ready for the games. “That’s your job - to talk about and write about - and my job is to prepare a team for West Ham. That
is what we are doing, just focusing on that one. We’re not going to talk about individuals because no one here is going to feel that we put more pressure on them.
“When you lose a game you’re hurt, you’re disappointed and you’ve just got to focus on the next thing. A defeat is not the end of the world, it was the end of the
FA Cup dream and the final but now it’s business as usual and onto the next game.
“We’ve had so many setbacks as a club, Man United, we’ve lost big games before and turned that around and put a good performance in and that’s what we have to do now.
“I think we’ve grown over the whole season and the added pieces of Odion [Ighalo], Bruno [Fernandes], Paul [Pogba] coming back and Marcus [Rashford] coming back is a strength for us and we are better as a group; more robust and resilient. The proof is in the pudding and we’ll have to see on Wednesday how they’re going to perform.”