It is official now – David De Gea is not a Manchester United player anymore. After his contract ended on 30 June, there were still chances for the Spanish goalkeeper to prolong his stay at Old Trafford as there were reports about the potential new deal. The chances for such a move were slim, especially after De Gea signed a new deal with the club, which the club then pulled back and did not want to sign themselves.
But now it has been confirmed by both sides that the continuation of De Gea’s time at Man United will not be coming. The player himself announced his departure from Mancnester United, which brings an end to his 12-year long stay. During that time, since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2011, De Gea managed to appear in 545 appearances in all competitions, keeping 190 clean sheets. Both of those numbers are records for a goalkeeper at Old Trafford.
In these dozen years in Manchester, De Gea won the 2013 Premier League, club’s last title to date, but also an FA Cup, one Europa League and two League Cups. He also won the Premier League Golden Glove on two occasions, with the last one coming just couple of months ago, and also a club record of four Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year awards, voted by fans, and four Players’ Player of the Year awards. While De Gea has not been part of those best of United’s years in the recent decades, he was an incredibly important player for many years.
De Gea was a truly world class goalkeeper for several seasons and he was often the reason why United finished in certain positions and won certain competitions, when the rest of the team often struggled in different areas. He transitioned between numerous managers without getting moved on for over a decade and only in the last couple of seasons it became obvious that the Spaniard’s limitations with the ball at his feet, he might not be the ideal fit for Man United and what they are trying to achieve in their new transition.
Where De Gea will go from now remains to be seen. There are some reports in the media that Saudi Arabia is an option for him, but considering he is 32 years old, there is definitely something he could still offer somewhere in Europe. While we wait to see where the goalkeeper will go, it is worth noting that the Red Devils will now intensify their pursuit of Andre Onana from Inter. The Cameroonian goalkeeper is their priority, but the two clubs remain far from each other in their valuations of the player in question. United will probably have to improve their offer and get closer to 50 million pounds, as Inter want to get the best possible deal as they look for a new goalkeeper themselves, to prepare for life without Onana.
While the media will continue looking in that direction, a big thank you must be said to David De Gea, who was a wonderful servant to the club for the past 12 years.
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