Dean Henderson and David de Gea have two months to stake their claims for the Manchester United number one jersey as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces up to a crunch summer decision.
The United manager has to decide which of the two international keepers starts against Brighton on Sunday after De Gea returned from his recent paternity leave.
That absence allowed England international Henderson to start United’s last six games before the international break, and Solskjaer’s choice tomorrow will be taken as a key indication of which of the pair is currently his number one.
Solskjaer has steadfastly refused to be drawn into the particular debate but is aware, that with the pair both desperate for regular football, it is a situation he will have to address this summer.
“I understand the question and the narrative in the media, that’s where there’s potential tension and controversy, that’s where everyone wants to hear a comment from me,” Solskjaer said.
“I’ve got great options, they are top goalkeepers but both of them want to play as much as possible and that will be decided on merit, we will have to think who’s going to give us a win on any given day.
“I have the great option of two top goalkeepers and it’s a pleasure to have them here.
”We’ve got hopefully nine plus five games to go – we want to go all the way in the Europa League – so I’m sure you’ll see both of them playing in goal for us.
“Both of them know we value them both really highly. It’s a difficult position to leave one of them out.
“It’s an easy decision to give them the nod and they’ll play, the difficult one is to leave one of them out but it’s a good decision to make. You will probably see both of them.”
Solskjaer was equally evasive on the topic of Erling Haaland, with United expected to be in the running to sign his former Molde striker from Borussia Dortmund this summer.
But the United manager is certainly relishing the return of Paul Pogba from his injury troubles after the French World Cup winner picked up game time on international duty this week.
“It can be a massive boost, he’s come back bright, and is ready to go, we know how important he will be for us and how important he has been,” Solskjaer said.
“Having Paul back fit, getting our forwards hopefully firing again, hopefully, we can get that spark and score more goals again.”
That lack of goals – just six from United’s last eight games – might be solved tomorrow if Anthony Martial, injured while playing for France, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood are all declared fit.
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