Former England defender Danny Mills has laid into Dean Henderson after the goalkeeper branded his treatment by Manchester United as "criminal".
The 25-year-old stopper has moved on loan to Nottingham Forest for the season after failing to get a look-in at Old Trafford last campaign, despite him insisting he was promised the No.1 spot. Henderson had performed well on loan at Sheffield United the season prior, forcing his way into the England squad in the process, and claims United chiefs told him he was certain to replace David de Gea between the sticks.
Things didn't pan out that way, however, with Henderson racking up just three appearances all season - none of which came in the Premier League, which only convinced him to force through a move to Forest. "I turned so many good loans down last summer for that reason [being told he would be No 1], and they wouldn't let me go,” Henderson told talkSPORT.
“It was frustrating. To sit there and waste 12 months is criminal really, at my age. I was fuming. I tried to join Forest all before [Erik ten Hag was appointed] — I told the hierarchy I need to play football. I don't want to be here playing second fiddle. I was almost gone before the manager came in and I haven't spoke to him since.”
Henderson even admitted he did not approach Ten Hag to discuss his future as he did not want to run the risk of his transfer being blocked. “I didn't really want the manager to come in and be able to see me in training,” he said. “Because I knew he'd probably want to keep me."
Henderson has now got his wish as he prepares to be Forest's first choice for the campaign ahead, following the departure of Brice Samba. But his comments have irked ex-Premier League star Mills, who slammed Henderson for his conduct.
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“Boo hoo, woe is me,” Mills said on TalkSport. “Welcome to the real world of football Dean. This is what happens in football.
“David de Gea, didn’t he get Player of the Season? Therefore you were rightly number two behind him. No one ever gets promised ‘You are going to be No 1 all season long’, it’s impossible, doesn’t happen. You may start that way, but he got Covid. He was out of the team, David de Gea came in, played well, he stays in. That’s what happens in football, players get injured, they get ill, someone else gets an opportunity and you can’t get back in. Tough. You have to deal with it, that’s football.
“He wasn’t that bothered when he signed a six-year deal. It doesn’t matter what you get told, there are so many things that really annoy me about those statements, ‘I didn’t even speak to the manager’, so if you think you’re good enough to be number one, you think you’re better than David de Gea, then speak to Erik ten Hag and say ‘I think I am better than you [De Gea] am I going to play?’.
“If Ten Hag says no, then okay you have got decisions to make. Then he goes on about he turned down so many good loan deals, but Manchester United wouldn’t let him go. Well in that case you didn’t turn down a single thing, because if Man United wasn’t prepared to let you go there was never a loan deal on the table.
Mills' rant continued: "Don’t sign a six-year deal. Football isn’t that easy, no one can ever be promised ‘You are coming in to start, you are going to play every single week’, because if you are out of form or you get injured, someone else gets in and takes your place, tough.
“There are squads of 25 players, look what Pep [Guardiola] did to Joe Hart. I didn’t hear Joe Hart come out bleating like this, complaining, he just went ‘Okay, I didn’t like it, deal with it and move on’. Simple as that. He is 25, he is not a kid anymore.”
