Chelsea are reportedly poised to offer Dean Henderson a bumper £170,000-a-week deal should Manchester United fail to guarantee the highly-rated goalkeeper regular first-team action.
The 23-year-old, who has enjoyed another successful campaign with Sheffield United, recently returned to Old Trafford and has demanded guaranteed game time before signing a new deal.
According to The Mirror, Henderson tops Frank Lampard’s shortlist for a new stopper this summer with a £55million offer believed to be enough to snare him.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to tie down Henderson to a new long-term contract and provide competition for under-fire David de Gea, but is believed to still view the Spain international as his first-choice keeper.
As such, Solskjaer may be unwilling to offer Henderson the assurances he is hoping for despite De Gea enduring a season littered with high-profile errors.
Henderson harbours ambitions of breaking into the England team and is said to have told friends that, while he is ‘desperate’ to play for United, he is open to looking elsewhere.
Chelsea would then be favourites to sign Henderson should they table a hefty offer.
Lampard remains unconvinced by current custodian Kepa Arrizabalaga, having dropped the £72m man for the crunch final game of the season against Wolves.
The same outlet suggest Henderson is his first-choice target for a replacement, with Tottenham also holding an interest.
The north London outfit will not be dragged into a bidding war, however, despite Jose Mourinho believing Henderson is now a better stopper than De Gea.
Henderson, who has two years left on his United deal, kept 13 clean sheets from 36 games this campaign. Chris Wilder is understandably keen to flesh out a third consecutive loan spell.
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