How Manchester United are ‘delaying’ Newcastle United from making their ‘first summer signing’

Karl Darlow could pave the way for Dean Henderson to join Newcastle United this summer.

That’s according to the Manchester Evening News (MEN), who claim the Red Devils are considering Darlow as a potential back-up to David de Gea.

Henderson, currently No.2 to de Gea, is expected to leave Old Trafford in the coming months for regular first-team football.

St James’ Park has been touted as the most likely destination for the 25-year-old, though Eddie Howe played talk down last week.

“We’re not close to signing anybody at this moment in time,” Howe said. “We’re not at any advanced stage with that.

“It’s very difficult for me to comment on individual players because I’d be giving you an answer on every target. But no, that’s far from the truth.”

What’s being reported

MEN published a fresh story on Friday morning, which suggests Henderson’s exit is on hold until a replacement is found.

Lee Grant announced his retirement on Thursday, leaving de Gea, Henderson and Tom Heaton as the club’s only senior goalkeepers.

It’s being reported by MEN that Newcastle could use Darlow in a potential swap deal to bring Henderson to the North East.

Darlow, after recovering from Covid-19 in the early stages of the season, played eight games before being replaced by Martin Dubravka.

Howe happy with Dubravka - but new goalkeeper remains on the agenda

Despite playing the last 26 games, and keeping eight clean sheets, Howe is believed to be eyeing a goalkeeper this summer, hence the Henderson links.

Asked about Dubravka recently, Howe said: “I’m very happy with his performances.

“You look back to the Liverpool game recently, without him, the performance wasn’t particularly good, in my opinion, and the result would have been very different, and he kept a clean sheet (against Arsenal).

“I really, really like him as a lad and as a goalkeeper, and, with Karl, I think we’ve got a very strong goalkeeping team.”

Newcastle also have Freddie Woodman’s future to sort out. The 25-year-old was loaned to Bournemouth for the second-half of the campaign but failed to make a Championship appearance.