Man Utd may have identified long term Andre Onana replacement for NOTHING as he follows two England stars footsteps
MANCHESTER UNITED teenage goalkeeper Elyh Harrison is following in the footsteps of Dean Henderson after joining Shrewsbury Town on loan.
After showing plenty of potential at youth level, United have now decided the next step in Harrison’s development is for him to get regular game time in the EFL for the first time.
Henderson ground his way through four EFL clubs before finally securing a Premier League starting spot at Crystal Palace – where he won the FA Cup last season.
And an England call-up quickly came too, with many United fans wishing Henderson wasn’t let go in the same summer that Andre Onana joined.
United had loaned Henderson out to Stockport Grimsby, Shrewsbury, Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest, with David de Gea the permanent No.1 between the sticks.
But he was sold to Palace for £20million at the end of the summer 2023 window, with then manager Erik ten Hag securing Onana for £47m from Inter Milan.
But Onana has fallen short of expectations, with Harrison, the next big thing in United’s goalkeeping ranks, walking in the path Henderson laid out.
Harrison, who joined United’s academy from Stevenage in 2022, spent the first half of last season on loan at non-league outfit Chester, keeping seven clean sheets in 18 appearances.
He was due to spend the duration of the 2024/25 term at the National League North outfit, but United recalled him in January to train with the first-team and feature for the academy.
The 19-year-old was named on the bench eight times by boss Ruben Amorim after being recalled.
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He has featured for the Red Devils’ Under-21 side but is yet to make a first-team appearance for the Premier League club.
Shrewsbury director of football Micky Moore says the England Under-20 international has a “bright future” after monitoring his progress last season.
Moore said: “I’m really excited that we’ve signed Elyh. He’s someone we’ve targeted since last season ended and I think he’s got a bright future.
“We watched him play at Chester last year and continued to watch him when he went back to play for United’s Under-21s.
“We think he’s got all the right characteristics and that this could be a very good loan for him.
“Michael [Appleton] wanted to get him in the building as soon as possible, so I’m really happy to get it over the line because it was a tough process due to the amount of interest in the player.”
Meanwhile, the first team were reportedly “rebuffed immediately” in their attempts to sign Aston Villa’s No.1 Emi Martinez this week.
United have also been linked with young Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens, 23, from Antwerp, who is valued at around £17million.
Amorim has been eyeing a replacement for Onana even before the Cameroonian stopper suffered an hamstring injury in pre-season.
Lammens ended the season with an eye-catching 173 saves, which works out to 4.3 saves per match and a solid 78 per cent save rate.