Former Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson returned to Old Trafford as an opponent this evening, but his Crystal Palace debut went terribly wrong.
Erik ten Hag’s side welcomed the Eagles to the Theatre of Dreams for their League Cup round-three encounter on Tuesday night, with Roy Hodgson handing the 26-year-old his first start this season.
However, Henderson’s first appearance for Palace lasted only 19 minutes as a muscle injury forced him to leave the pitch early on, with Sam Johnstone taking his place between the sticks.
The Englishman went downfield to make a routine clearance. After pulling up, he had a lengthy discussion with the medical staff about whether to continue with discomfort.
Unfortunately for the ex-Man United stopper, he had to be subbed off as a precaution, with Ten Hag’s side putting two unanswered goals past Johnstone in the remainder of the first half.
Henderson cannot catch a break. He was desperate for a fresh start at Selhurst Park after being deemed surplus to requirements in Manchester despite a stellar loan campaign at Nottingham Forest last term.
Palace offered him an escape route from Old Trafford in the summer, pouring around £15 million into the Red Devils’ bank account to capture his signature.
He joined Man United’s youth academy in 2011 and made his senior breakthrough in 2015, but he spent most of his career playing second fiddle to David de Gea.
United had a habit of moving him from place to place to help him gain experience, yet they never gave him a chance to establish himself in the first team.
After an impressive loan spell at Sheffield United in 2019/20, Henderson returned to Man Utd hoping to fight the Spaniard for a starting berth but to no avail.
Only 29 appearances across two seasons forced him to leave the club for another loan in the summer of 2022, with Forest coming to his rescue.
His latest return to Old Trafford proved to be another unpleasant experience.
