New Delhi, August 31, 2020: If Sergio Romero completes his move away from Manchester United this summer then the decision to axe him for three semi-finals this season may well be considered the defining moment of his time at the club.
For five years United have had the best back-up goalkeeper in the Premier League – certainly the only No. 2 with 96 caps for Argentina – but when push came to shove they still didn’t trust him ahead of David de Gea.
The Spaniard has struggled for a second successive season at Old Trafford but when the team to face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, Chelsea in the FA Cup and Sevilla in the Europa League was announced, he was back in. Romero played 17 cup games for United this season but was moved aside at the business end of all three competitions.
Those decisions might have been the final straw for the 33-year-old, but the reality is he’s been a clear understudy to De Gea for much longer than this season, rather than ever being seen as realistic competition, despite his stellar record in the game.
For a few seasons now De Gea has known his status as No. 1 is undisputed. Has that led to some of the error-strewn performances we’ve seen over the past 18 months? On his day the four-time player of the year has shown he remains as good as ever, but there have been too many mistakes to go alongside the memorable saves, perhaps a hint of complacency kicking in.
If that is the case then the 29-year-old is about to get exactly what he needs in the form of some serious competition to be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-choice goalkeeper.
When United begin the new Premier League season on September 19 against Crystal Palace it would be a major surprise if De Gea didn’t start, adding to his 405 club appearances, but he will know that in Dean Henderson he has a young, ambitious goalkeeper who will be determined to end the season as United and England’s No. 1.
To begin with Henderson will get chances in the cup competitions, as Romero did, but while the Argentinean knew he was just picking up an appearance fee rather than putting himself in Premier League contention, Henderson will know that if he can impress he will put pressure on De Gea.
The 23-year-old has had two exceptional seasons on loan at Sheffield United and has never hidden his ambition to oust De Gea. His presence on the training ground every day will keep the Spanish goalkeeper on his toes and perhaps that level of competition will result in improved performances as well according to the reports published in manchestereveningnews.co.uk.
If De Gea continues to make the number of mistakes he has been doing then it will surely be a matter of time before Henderson gets his chance in the Premier League. But conversely, the pressure from Henderson might reignite De Gea’s own United career.
In Romero he knew he had a caretaker when he was given the night off, rather than any real competition. That’s no longer the case.
