This summer is becoming a mirror of the 2019 close-season for Manchester United: reeling from dropping to sixth, Europa League football on the calendar, their stock in the transfer market is low and a recently-appointed manager is presiding over another reset. Or rebuild, recalibration, retool, whatever you want to call it.
It extends to the goalkeeping situation. Three years ago, United loaned Dean Henderson to a newly-promoted Premier League club, delaying the decision on when he could replace David de Gea.
Alas, United had a manager who was clinically indecisive. A heavily pregnant woman and a contagious disease made the decisions for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and he still conducted his exit interview with the same unsustainable dynamic between De Gea and Henderson unresolved.
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Henderson's brief stint as outright No.1 last year was enabled by De Gea's paternity leave. De Gea flew to Madrid in early March and Henderson was told to prepare to start the next six matches.
The Covid-19 pandemic and its mandatory quarantines at the time extended De Gea's absence and, by the time he was free from house arrest United had Europa League and FA Cup ties on the agenda, competitions designated for Henderson.
The turning point in Henderson's United career was the European Championship final at Wembley. He had been informed by Solskjaer he was due to start the season after withdrawing from the England squad with a troublesome groin injury but he braced the carnage on Wembley Way as a supporter. It is there where Henderson believes he contracted Covid-19.
Henderson reported for pre-season training the following week, tested positive and missed the opening friendly at Derby County. The illness was so debilitating Henderson did not return to the United squad for two months.
By then, De Gea had enjoyed a stellar start to the campaign, exorcising his penalty demons with a first spotkick save after 40 consecutive conversions past him to preserve victory in added time against West Ham.
"The people who don't want to stay, just go," De Gea advised at Selhurst Park last month. That is one way to remove the competition.
It is symptomatic of Solskjaer's soft management the players' player of the season was a player he intended to jettison. Tom Heaton rejoined United under the assumption he would be second choice and it was suggested to him De Gea would not be a teammate for too long.
Now De Gea is about to start the 11th season out of the last 12 for United, the anomaly in 2015 when he anticipated a move to Real Madrid. De Gea's standing under Solskjaer was described as a "big problem" by a senior player during the 2020-21 season and he became precious amid competition from Henderson.
The goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis fretted about the coverage Henderson's early return to pre-season training in 2020 would generate. "I'm going to have to explain this to David," he wailed, much to some staff members' bemusement. Hartis also took umbrage (on De Gea's behalf) with an article on the club website the Spaniard interpreted as undermining him.
De Gea might argue he has vindicated his place without someone trying to jump into his grave. Sergio Romero was the perfect support act for De Gea as a chronic knee injury restricted him to a limited number of games per season, so he was never fit enough to oust De Gea. Romero has not broken the 20-game barrier in a club campaign since he was with Sampdoria in 2012-13.
De Gea's long-term future at United is not watertight. His contract runs for two more years and the 31-year-old could still spend the best part of another decade at the club. Edwin van der Sar was 34 at the time he ended the club's six-year succession search for a worthy replacement for Peter Schmeichel.
Henderson turns 26 next year and that was the age Ben Foster was when he had his one-shot to become number one in 2009. Henderson's United career has parallels with Foster's: a successful, promotion-winning loan from the Championship followed by a Premier League loan with the same club and an England squad call-up all before debuting for United.
Foster's spell at the start of 2009-10 was peppered with admirable agile denials of Chucho Benitez, Hugo Rodallega, Robin van Persie and Jermaine Jenas, though it is better remembered for Carlos Tevez robbing him of the ball in the derby and a feeble aerial duel with Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones. That killed his United career and Ferguson tore into Foster in the dressing room.
Ultimately, Foster did not have the mentality to hack it at United. He expected the squad to embark on an open-top bus parade after winning the League Cup in 2009 when they had a vital Premier League fixture at Newcastle three days later. When Foster tweeted a picture of the Watford goalkeepers with the caption '"always the hardest workers" three years ago, Van der Sar replied: "True although you needed to learn that a little bit when you were younger..."
Foster's opportunity in Van der Sar's absence was received favourably as there was a sense the Dutchman's flaws were masked by a defence that went more than 22 hours without conceding a goal in 2008-09. Van der Sar missed chunks of his penultimate season through a knee injury and compassionate leave to care for his wife after she suffered a brain haemorrhage, but rallied and his final season (when he turned 40) was his best.
Van der Sar retired from the Netherlands national side in 2008 and De Gea is likely to have a month off during the winter World Cup, having been cut from Luis Enrique's Spain squad. Enrique's call would have extracted some of the sting had Erik ten Hag decided to install Henderson (whom he was keen to sign on loan at Ajax) as his No.1.
Instead, he has bought himself time. The last position United need to invest in this summer is a starting goalkeeper. De Gea and Henderson will play regularly in the Premier League and next year a definitive decision has to be made: does De Gea get a new contract, or does Henderson replace him, or is Henderson sold?
If an Exocet was fired at goal, De Gea is still the man between the sticks to halt it but he has figuratively stood still. De Gea is often rooted to his line and his distribution is limited. Henderson, conscious of De Gea's reputation, ended up on the 18-yard line against Burnley last year and was outjumped by Chris Wood, reprieved only by the linesman's flag.
On his last United appearance against Young Boys in December, Henderson emerged from his area twice, tallying more actions than De Gea attempted in any of his 46 appearances last season. They are not mirror images.
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