Manchester United player launches scathing attack on club, calling his treatment 'criminal'

• Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson has hit out at the club and its treatment of him.
• Henderson played just three games last season, despite his claim that he was told he would be the club's "number one."

Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson has called his treatment at the hands of his club "criminal" – saying that he was made false promises about the trajectory of his career.

Henderson progressed through the youth ranks at United but had spent much of his career out on loan until 2020, when he was named to the club's first-team squad for the first time ever.

The 25-year-old had established himself as the club's first choice keeper that season, and he said he was told he would be the team's "number one" goalkeeper again last term.

But after an injury setback that forced him to miss the European Championships and a bout of COVID-19, it never materialized.

He made just three appearances in all competitions for United last season, none of which came in the English Premier League.

"To be honest, it has probably been the toughest 12 months of my career," Henderson, who joined newly promoted Nottingham Forest on loan last month, told TalkSPORT.

"It was frustrating because I turned down so many good loans last summer for that reason, and they would not let me go."

The England international added that he was "fuming" by his lack of game time.

"The conversation I had coming out of the Euros squad was: 'You're coming back here to be the number one,'" he said.

"I got COVID-19, came back, so I should have still been the number one, but then nobody followed through with what they had told me.

"To sit there for 12 months, it is criminal really, at my age. I told the hierarchy that I need to be playing football and to let me go."

United plays its first match of the new Premier League campaign on Sunday when it hosts Brighton at Old Trafford, while Forest faces Newcastle on Saturday.

United and Forest meet for the first of their two fixtures against eachother this season on Boxing Day.