There are multiple examples of players sold by Manchester United in recent years who went on to achieve success elsewhere, with Nicky Butt ensuring that one ‘superstar’ doesn’t go completely under the radar.
The Manchester United academy is always stocked with talent, but there are never any guarantees of a place in the first team, as Chido Obi has learned this season.
Ineos have been adamant about investing in young players and boosting the standards at the club. That should create a pathway for success in the future as long as those players get the best levels of coaching to aid their development.
Kobbie Mainoo is the main academy graduate in United’s first team right now, although he is playing a bit part role and could easily leave next summer.
Only time will tell if Mainoo will join a list of promising players to come through the academy before moving elsewhere. There was a time when many believed he had a long-term future at Old Trafford.
Nicky Butt believes Dean Henderson is a superstar
Dean Henderson is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League now.
Before joining Crystal Palace and winning the FA Cup with the Eagles last season, Henderson’s career was defined by a long association with United’s academy, but he ultimately failed to displace David de Gea as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Butt knew Henderson from his time in the academy at Carrington, given that he joined the club at the age of 14 in 2011 and spent over a decade on the club’s books.
Henderson enjoyed multiple loans after signing his first professional contract in 2015, with Shrewsbury Town and Sheffield United.
Butt fears that Mainoo could go the same way as Scott McTominay and Dean Henderson, by leaving United and becoming a superstar elsewhere.
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Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football, Butt said: “Now we’re going to sell him (Mainoo) for X amount of money and he’ll go to another club and he’ll be a superstar. Like Scott McTominay, like Elanga, like several others we can name, Dean Henderson, who people forget about. We didn’t have a goalkeeper this new goalkeeper looks okay to be fair.
“But before him, we’re getting rid of players that I love the football club, run through brick walls for this football club, their grandparents are Man United fans. They’ve been there since they were seven.”
Palace are currently fourth in the Premier League after conceding just 12 goals in the first 15 games of the season. That’s seven fewer than United.
How many times did Dean Henderson play for Man Utd?
Henderson graduated from the academy, but only made 22 appearances for the club.
He started in 15 Premier League games but left after being overlooked as a replacement for De Gea.
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Erik ten Hag would eventually go on to sign Andre Onana from Inter Milan.
With 10 clean sheets to his name for United, Henderson conceded a total of 18 goals.
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