It continues to be a very exciting summer at Manchester United, with plenty of topics to discuss. What offseason, right?
So let’s take a spin through the latest news and notes items making the rounds on the internet today.
-United are set to extend goalkeeping prodigy Dean Henderson for another three years, and ward off the pursuit of Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea. Henderson was with League One side Shrewsbury on loan for the 2017-18 campaign. He was named in the PFA League One Team of the Year, after registering 19 clean sheets.
Here’s more on the England U21 international via the Daily Mail:
“Henderson, whose existing contract expires this summer, had attracted interest from Premier League clubs including Chelsea and Arsenal, while Benfica, Roma and Olympiacos also had scouting reports on the 21-year-old goalkeeper.”
Good luck to Henderson, a very promising young man of which a lot is expected down the line some day. As you obviously know, United’s senior team has a pretty solid #1 in place right now.
-Speaking of that “pretty good” #1, PFA Goalkeeper of the year and Golden Glove winner David de Gea, he has a message for Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the Iberian peninsula World Cup clash.
De Gea and Spain battle Ronaldo and Portugal in Group B action on Friday night, in a clash that features two all time United greats.
“The first match is always important, and more so when it is against a rival as hard and complicated as Portugal,” De Gea said in an interview with Spanish outlet Marca.
“We have to face the game as we did in the qualifying phase, that is, playing our own game. Cristiano Ronaldo is well studied, and everyone knows he’s one of the best in the world.
“He also has a great team behind him, they’re European champions and it will be a tough game.”
Spain is considered the strong favorite of the group, and one of the leading contenders of this World Cup. Portugal are reigning 2016 European champions.
-Where does the club future of ex-United striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez lie? He struggled to become a first team regular at West Ham United, and with Manuel Pellegrinni’s expensive overhaul on the way, his place could be in doubt.
This was a choice sound bite from an ESPN FC interview. Hernandez was asked, “$10 million playing in MLS or $5 million playing on a mid-table team in Spain?” — and he responded “$5 million in Spain.”
-Elsewhere in Chicharito news, the Mexican international rejects claims that over 30 VIP escort service women were present at a Mexico team party in Mexico City where they celebrated their win over Scotland. Chicharito said during a Facebook Live broadcast that the party was for his 30th birthday, and that noting inappropriate happened.
“It’s a topic that I’ve wanted to talk about,” Hernandez admitted. “There are a lot of things that are tiring. The truth is that it was a gathering to celebrate my birthday.
“They gave us the night off and the day off and we left the next day and that’s what we did. They organized it for me and I invited all the players to come.”
“They all came apart from Jesus Corona, the goalkeeper, because he had a personal issue and he apologized to me and all the squad. We ate together and then afterwards a lot of people arrived and every player left at the time they wanted to.”
“Another thing that makes me embarrassed and laugh and that I have to talk about now it comes to mind is that there were never escorts or anything similar. That shows a lack of respect for the people that were there.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud and YouTube.