Manchester United have delayed making a final decision on problem Solskjaer identified last year

It's just over a year since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said the goalkeeping situation at Manchester United was unsustainable and vowed to find a "solution" in time for the start of last season.

In the end, that solution made itself clear to Solskjaer, rather than the other way around. Dean Henderson tested positive for Covid-19 last summer and struggled to shake off the aftereffects, so David de Gea started the season in goal.

De Gea immediately hit the ground running and ended the season as players' player of the year, but it could very easily have been a different story

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Speaking before the final day of the 2020/21 season, Solskjaer admitted that continuing to rotate De Gea and Henderson wasn't going to work. Last summer United signed Tom Heaton on the expectation one of the two would depart and it's understood Solskjaer was leaning towards making Henderson his No. 1 and allowing De Gea to leave the club.

But circumstances intervened and De Gea spent every minute of the Premier League season between the sticks, usually overworked and under-protected, while Henderson had to sit on the bench and make do with three cup games, probably United's three most forgettable, meaningless games of the campaign.

When Erik ten Hag took the reins this summer he was never going to axe De Gea. Ten Hag has plenty in his in-tray at Carrington, so dropping the goalkeeper voted the club's best player by his teammates last season was not going to be on the agenda.

There are legitimate questions as to how De Gea will fit into a Ten Hag team, however. The Dutchman wants his goalkeeper to be good with his feet and comfortable behind a high line, areas that aren't De Gea's