Dean Henderson is highlighting a massive problem at Manchester United

When Dean Henderson returned from his two-year loan spell with Sheffield United, many Manchester United fans thought they had found their goalkeeper for the next decade. Fast forward a few years and it's clear now the shot-stopper spent too long on the bench, became frustrated with his playing time and then went back out on loan, this time to Nottingham Forest where he is currently struggling.

He was joined there by Jesse Lingard who also went on loan during his time at United. Struggling for game time at Old Trafford, Lingard went out to West Ham United where in half a season he scored nine Premier League goals in 16 appearances. Many expected that he would be sold for a reasonable fee, but instead, the club failed to sell him and he left when his contract ended at the 2021/22 season.

And finally James Garner, a player that was on loan at Forest last year. After playing well for the side while they were in the Championship and helping them gain promotion, many expected that he would have a first-team role under Erik ten Hag; instead, he was sold for a cut-price fee to Everton this summer.

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So what do all three of these instances in common, other than they strangely all have links to Forest? Well, they all show how broken and dysfunctional United's loan system currently is and how the club is failing to use it effectively.

Then you've got to ask the question of what do United want to achieve from the loan system? If the answer is 'to make youth players ready for first-team football at Old Trafford', you have to go back a long time since that was the case.

There are only two real instances of players going out on loan and then becoming a consistent