Sheffield United praised Manchester United’s player agreement, claiming he was better than Paddy Kenny.

This post is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which features personal comments from FLW Fan Pundits on breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings, and more.

Sheffield United has been blessed with many outstanding players and future stars throughout their long history, with several recent examples standing out in the minds of many Blades.

Despite the recent heartbreak suffered by the Bramall Lane faithful in the 2024/25 Championship play-off final, recent history indicates that it was a remarkable period in this part of the Steel City, with the club being completely transformed in less than a decade after Chris Wilder returned to his boyhood club for the first of three eventual spells as manager with the club stuck in League One.

Within two years, United would return to the Premier League for the first time in 12 years, finishing ninth in their first season since Neil Warnock’s tenure.

Unsurprisingly, many persons who wore the famed red and white over the aforementioned timeframe are revered, if not legendary, for their services to the cause.

As Wilder has stated in subsequent appearances, the funds that were eventually injected into the club’s coffers by ownership groups or the Premier League were the result of three seasons of progressing the club from the third tier and selling homegrown players such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Che Adams.

Such funds were reinvested in the playing team, with high-profile recruits such as John Egan, who joined from Brentford for £4 million in a then-club record move.

Many would argue that Dean Henderson’s loan agreement with Manchester United was just as important, and Jimmy, FLW’s Blades fan pundit and host of the Blades Ramble, certainly believes so.

Dean Henderson voted the “best” Sheffield United goalkeeper amid comparisons to Paddy Kenny

Henderson’s first loan move from Old Trafford to South Yorkshire came at the age of 21, following an excruciating defeat to Rotherham United in the League One play-off final while with Shrewsbury Town.

In his first taste of Championship football, the Whitehaven native struggled for form at first, keeping only three clean sheets in his first ten appearances, before eventually recording a remarkable tally of 21 shutouts as an ever-present and winning the division’s ‘Golden Glove’.

After returning to the Premier League, Wilder persuaded the 20-time champions to agree to a second loan spell, during which Henderson kept 13 more clean sheets in 36 Premier League appearances before returning to Old Trafford at the end of the 2019/20 season.

In an interview with FLW, Jimmy compared the three-time England international to Blades mainstay Paddy Kenny, who made 318 appearances for the club between 2002 and 2010, but believes Henderson was a superior shot-stopper.

“I’m Dean Henderson. It’s too late to ‘never fall in love with a loan player’. He said, “It’s already happened.”

“The fans embraced Dean Henderson like no other loanee in recent memory.

“A lot of Blades will tell you, certainly younger ones, he’s the best goalkeeper we’ve had,” Jimmy told me.

“That says a lot when supporters usually look back and choose one of their own, even if they weren’t quite on the same level, like Paddy Kenny or Alan Kelly.

“If we’re being honest, the best player I’ve ever seen in our goal was Dean Henderson,” said the forward. “He embraced everything about the club.

“He made a mistake, and he still does. But he’s a fantastic goalkeeper who is well-liked by the Sheffield United fans.”

Sheffield United fans will have followed Dean Henderson’s career with great pride.

Despite the fact that it was not his first loan spell, the current Crystal Palace shot-stopper made a significant breakthrough with the Blades.

As Jimmy mentioned, Henderson is regarded as a far superior United player than Kenny and Kelly, both of whom are cult icons in their own right.

As a result, Blades fans have closely followed his career path and will undoubtedly be grateful to the Cumbrian when he helped the Eagles win the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in May 2025, where he denied Omar Marmoush from the penalty spot to keep Oliver Glasner’s side in front.

Many would argue that he should have more than three England caps. However, it is becoming increasingly tough for any figure to elbow their way past the dependable Jordan Pickford at the moment, with Henderson continuing to exhibit his talent for Palace on the local and international stages as they compete in the UEFA Europa Conference League.