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Edwin van der Sar has denied rumours that Ajax are looking to take Dean Henderson from Manchester United, explaining where he thinks they came from.

It emerged recently that Ajax could sign Henderson on loan from Man Utd. The goalkeeper has not had many chances to impress this season for a number of reasons. He missed pre-season due to Covid-19 and upon his return found David De Gea in undroppable form.

Henderson has consequently only started two games this season. He even didn’t get to finish one of them, as Ralf Rangnick took him off against Young Boys in the Champions League so Tom Heaton could get some gametime too.

Before that game, the rumours of Ajax’s interest appeared. The Eredivisie side are looking to replace Andre Onana, who is out of contract at the end of the season.

A move to Europe should give Henderson the chance to get the regular gametime he needs. His target is to be playing enough club football to remain in contention for England ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

Ajax would be able to offer him Champions League football too, but it doesn’t seem likely that they are going to.

According to ex-United goalkeeper van der Sar, who now acts as Ajax CEO, there is nothing behind the link with Henderson. Instead, he feels other motives are at play.

Van der Sar told Voetbal Primeur: “I’ve heard nowadays you can pay €2,000 a month and hire media agencies to throw out nice stories about players into the world.

“I’m talking about social media, so to speak. You are continuously linked to players, whether they come from South America or Eastern Europe. But no, this makes no sense.”

Van der Sar disappointed about Onana

It remains to be seen how Ajax will fill the void left by Onana when he departs. They already had to navigate without him when he was serving a doping ban earlier this year, for taking a banned substance unknowingly.

Van der Sar added that he was disappointed that Onana will be walking away as a free agent after they stuck by him throughout the ban.

He said: “It’s really sad how it turned out, actually. He walks out the door so transfer-free, without us as Ajax being to blame.

“We have sat with him several times to extend his contract, including during the suspension. It has come to nothing and it hurts me personally. This is going to hurt the club too.

“Whether I am disappointed in him? Yes. After the arbitration case you also expect something in return.”

Dean Henderson given hope by Rangnick

As for Dean Henderson, the future also remains uncertain. Rangnick has confirmed he sees De Gea as the club’s number one, but trusts his backups too.

He said last week: “We have quite a few top goalkeepers and we could also see that against Young Boys. Both goalkeepers did well that played.

“With David De Gea we have a top goalkeeper as No.1, so this is the position that we have a minimum three if not four or five good goalkeepers and we will see what the situation will be like in the winter.

“There might be one or two of them wanting to go out on loan somewhere. But on the other hand, we have to keep in mind that we have three competitions in the next six months. FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League and we definitely need three top goalkeepers in order to make up for a player being injured or suspended.”

That said, Henderson will want to have as many chances as possible to impress the national selectors and also to find his own rhythm at club level. From his own perspective, that may have to come away from Old Trafford.

READ MORE: Rangnick urged to step aside with Man Utd tipped to make new boss appointment

The post ‘Makes no sense’ – Club chief has theory after ruling out Man Utd transfer link appeared first on TEAMtalk.