Nottingham Forest want Manchester United’s Dean Henderson on loan

Nottingham Forest have opened talks with Manchester United with a view to signing Dean Henderson on loan with option to buy the goalkeeper for about £20m.

Points of negotiation include whether an arrangement can be reached over Henderson’s salary. The 25-year-old played only three times last season – once each in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup – as David de Gea held down the No 1 spot.

Newcastle have also expressed interest in Henderson but will not take that further unless the conditions of any transfer change.

Forest were promoted to the Premier League via the playoffs with Brice Samba as their first-choice goalkeeper. He played all but six of their Championship and playoff matches, with Ethan Horvath his understudy. The pursuit of Henderson indicates that Samba could leave.

Henderson has come through the United academy and was given hope he could establish himself there when he played 10 of the final 12 Premier League matches of the 2020-21 season. But De Gea was preferred again last August by Ole Gunnar Solskjær and his form meant he was retained by Michael Carrick and Ralf Rangnick after the Norwegian was sacked.

Henderson has spent seasons on loan at Shrewsbury and Sheffield United. He played 36 of Sheffield United’s Premier League games in the 2019-20 campaign, when they finished ninth. In November 2020 he won his only England cap and he was included in the Euro 2020 squad before withdrawing injured.

Manchester United also have the 36-year-old Tom Heaton as back-up to De Gea.