On 29th June 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson signed what he believed would be a Man United great and the perfect replacement for Dutch keeper, Edwin Van der Sar. David De Gea, the 20 year old Spanish under 20 international keeper, was seen as United’s newest prodigy. 13 years on and the Spanish keeper is without a club and has been a free agent for over a year. The once highly regarded goalkeeper has had a fall from grace and at only 33 years old, what is next for De Gea and where did it all go wrong?
When De Gea signed for United from Atletico Madrid in 2011, there was nothing but excitement building around Old Trafford and the City of Manchester. Growing up in Madrid, De Gea would often accompany his father, Jose, to Atletico matches as a child. He started his career at the Casarrubuelos academy, an academy that had an affiliation to the club. He was initially playing as a centre forward before ending up as a goalkeeper. At 13 years old, De Gea was signed to Atletico’s academy and instantly made an impression on the clubs hierarchy. He was known as “El Nino Prodigea” (“The child prodigy”).
The talented keeper enjoyed his youth days as an Atletico Madrid player and was even selected for the Spanish under 17 squad which won the Under-17 European Championship in 2007. However, by the time he turned 18 years old, his Atletico career looked uncertain with new signings, Sergio Asenjo from Real Valladolid and Roberto Jimenez from Recreativo, being brought in as back up to first choice keeper, Joel Robles.
As De Gea looked sure to be heading away on loan, his fortune changed as injuries and international call ups gave him the opportunity to start in goal for the senior squad for the first time. His debut would come in the Champions League against FC Porto. After impressing mid week, he started his first La Liga game just days later against Real Zaragoza where he saved a penalty to announce himself on the big stage.
The physical stature of De Gea was always questioned but his sublime reflexes and shot stopping was what set him apart from the other goalkeepers. His skills were evident every time he played and as a result, he was given the responsibility to start against Liverpool in the Europa League semi-final in 2010. His starring role in this fixture caught the eye of many top clubs but one club in particular were amazed by this young talent. Man United were keeping close tabs on this young star and were keen as Edwin Van der Sar would be retiring the following season.
After performing brilliantly in goal for Atletico, rumours of a transfer escalated. His first professional contract, a five-year deal signed in 2008, had a clause for a better deal after five senior games. That was triggered in January 2010, and he now had a €20 million release clause. This didn’t deter Man United as they were fixed on signing De Gea.
With rumours circulating about De Gea’s future, Atletico fans were becoming restless and were infuriated at the secrecy behind the scenes. Eventually a £18.9 million deal was agreed but it was viewed as a backstabbing by fans. During the summer, Spain won the European Under-21 Championship and De Gea travelled to Manchester for his medical straight after it. A photographer spotted him at Manchester’s Bridgewater clinic, and the white sheet that was unsuccessfully used to hide his identity became a symbol for some Atletico fans of how the truth was being hidden from them. A banner was hung by “Frente Atletico” ultras reading, “De Gea, you’ll never be one of us,” and it left a sour taste in many of the Atletico fans’ mouths.
De Gea’s career at United didn’t get off to the best start as he struggled to deal with the physical side of the league. He made his United debut against Man City in the Community Shield. After a number of errors in games, De Gea was replaced briefly by Anders Lindegaard. He returned to the side again in February 2012 and made a huge save to earn a point in a 3-3 draw with title rivals Chelsea. It wouldn’t be until the following season when De Gea would begin to shine.
In the 2012/13 season, De Gea kept 11 clean sheets in 28 appearances to see Man United reclaim the Premier League title, finishing 11 points above second-placed Man City. After being slammed the previous season, manager Sir Alex Ferguson praised the goalkeeper for his performances and especially against Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16, stating he had “come of age” and it had turned him from “villain to hero”. De Gea was also named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year. This would be De Gea’s and United’s last title to date as they suffered at the hands of a dominant Manchester City.
During the next few years at Man United, De Gea was beginning to show his class between the sticks and was always discussed as a main contender for the best goalkeeper of the season during those early years. With his heroic performances, rumours of a transfer to Real Madrid, Atletico’s rivals, were beginning to circulate amongst the media. In the summer transfer window in 2015, negotiations between United and Real Madrid were heating up and it looked as if the Spanish goalkeeper would be joining the Galacticos. With a deal agreed, the relevant documents were being finalised and prepared for submission to La Liga’s offices. However, as the clock ticked down, the tax machine that was processing the final documents malfunctioned and the deal fell through. The clubs were furious and blamed each other for the ordeal but De Gea remained professional throughout and ended up signing a new contract with United.
The result of this didn’t interfere with his performances and in 2016, De Gea won his first FA Cup with United after a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. During that campaign, he made 15 clean sheets in the Premier League and narrowly missed out on the Golden Glove award to Arsenal’s Petr Cech. He also became the first player to win Manchester United’s Player of the Year award three years in a row.
The following season, the Spaniard won the Europa League for the second time in his career following a 2-0 win over Ajax in the final. United also won the League Cup after edging a thrilling final against Southampton at Wembley. De Gea was now in the prime of his career and he was playing at his best in a United shirt. He won the Golden Glove award for the first time after keeping 18 clean sheets in the 2017/18 Premier League season and became the number one for the national squad for the World Cup in Russia.
De Gea signed a bumper four year contract, estimating to be earning £375,000 a week, in 2019 and became the clubs top earner. It was from this point on that the decline of De Gea began. He was making costly errors in games and they were initially ignored and viewed as unfortunate mistakes. He won the Premier League Golden Glove for the second time in his career in 2022/23 after keeping the most clean sheets in the competition. However, De Gea was targeted a lot in the media for his performances that season and the pressure was getting to him and the club. De Gea made a total of four mistakes that led to a goal in the 22/23 season, equalling the record set by Hugo Lloris. There was also a question of his capability with the ball at his feet, and his willingness to come forward off his line which led to suggestions that United manager Erik ten Hag would prefer a change in keeper.
With big mistakes made against West Ham, when De Gea let a Benrahma weak shot slip through his fingers, and Sevilla in the Europa League, when he twice was caught out with the ball at his feet and United lost 3-0, Ten Hag defended his goalkeeper from public criticism. However, it was against Man City in the FA Cup final that the United boss lost his patience.
“Say it like this, we are in the right direction, but there are occasions in the game, issues in the game we have to improve, definitely, if we want to make the next step and win trophies.” -Erik Ten Hag
Ten Hag had decided to let De Gea leave once his contract had expired that summer. Although it was an unfortunate end to his United career, he will be remembered as one of club greats. With 545 appearances, this leaves the Spaniard seventh on the all-time list and his four player of the year awards in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018 is only matched by Cristiano Ronaldo. In February 2023, he passed Peter Schmeichel’s record for the most clean sheets in United’s history. De Gea never had the chance to say goodbye to United fans which was described as undeserving by Bruno Fernandes.
Where is De Gea now?
David De Gea has been without a club for over a year now and remains on the free agent list. He has not retired from football and has been linked to many clubs without any result. He has been linked to Saudi Pro clubs, Premier League clubs such as Newcastle United and has most recently been mentioned as a possible new signing for Serie A side Genoa. While some have been interested, no club has taken the chance to bring the former Premier League winner into their side.
He launched an E-Sports team, Rebels Gaming, in 2021 and has been overseeing them while searching for a new club. He has been maintaining his fitness through intense weekly workout sessions, preparing himself for a potential return to the game. The question of why it has it been so long and why aren’t clubs interested in signing De Gea remains however.
One reason for the lack of interest could be down to the high wages that he requires. He was earning £375,000 a week with Man United and some clubs view this as too high for a player prone to mistakes and in the final years of his career. He also has been out of the game for over a year and may see it as a big risk to bring in the ex-United keeper.
Where does De Gea rank amongst European keepers at present?
Taking a look at the final season of De Gea’s Man United career, where he won the Golden Glove award, we compared where he ranks amongst the elite goalkeepers in the top five European leagues of last season. David De Gea ranked in 63rd place amongst all goalkeepers in the top five European Leagues, in 2022/23, according to stats from FBRef.
| Statistic | De Gea (22/23) | Ranking in 2024 |
| Saves | 99 | 41st |
| Save % | 71.1% | 55th |
| Goals Against/90mins | 1.13 | 29th |
| Clean Sheets | 17 | 3rd |
| Clean Sheet % | 44.7% | 5th |
| Penalty Saves | 1 | 17th |
| Penalty Save % | 33.3% | 17th |
| Expected Goals/ Shot on Target | 0.27 | 57th |
| Per Shot Expected Goals | 41.3 | 49th |
| Passes Attempted | 1032 | 33rd |
With a transfer to Genoa now collapsed, it’s clear that David De Gea does not rank amongst the top goalkeepers in Europe anymore. He has only featured within the top ten of goalkeepers in 2024 with his clean sheets and clean sheet percentage from his performances in 2023. Goalkeepers are now expected to be able to play with the ball at their feet and it is an area that inevitably forced Ten Hag to bring in Andre Onana. In the 2023/24 season, Onana made 1351 passes, ranking 5th amongst Europe’s top goalkeepers. De Gea would have ranked 33rd, further highlighting Ten Hag’s reasoning for a change.
David De Gea has been one of the best goalkeepers this decade. His performances in a Man United shirt were sublime at times and his heroics should outnumber the errors. However, in today’s world that is what people will remember. Not the amount of games saved and points earned. Or the incredible moments he provided, especially that miracle save against Arsenal when he denied Alexandre Lacazette with a low stop to his right, before almost impossibly making a quick-fire reaction save to the follow-up from Alexis Sanchez. He has cemented his place in Premier League history and here’s hoping we will see the Spaniard in goal again soon.
