Its been a pretty good start to the season for Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea.
The 23-year-old Spaniard has put in several top displays for the Red Devils and is finally winning over fans at Old Trafford after a shaky start to his career at United.
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His good club form has carried onto the international stage as Spain named him their starting goalkeeper for the 4-0 win over Luxembourg on Sunday. De Gea replaced Spanish legend Iker Casillas after the latter’s poor display in Spain’s 2-1 defeat to Slovakia last week.
Reports from the Daily Mirror suggest that De Gea could soon be replacing Casillas at Real Madrid too. The British paper claims that Real are ready to make a $40 million bid for De Gea, who is contracted to United until 2016. With Casillas, 33, making several high-profile mistakes in the World Cup and European qualifiers as Spain have lost four of their last seven games, De Gea is being earmarked as La Furia Roja’s new No. 1.
After initially struggling to settle in with several issues such as lack of strength, confidence in collecting crosses and some glaring mistakes, De Gea has become one of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers over the past two years and is finally living up to his potential after Sir Alex Ferguson splashed $30 million to sign him from Atletico Madrid in 2011.
Would a return to his hometown of Madrid interest De Gea? Who knows. He seems committed and happy to be playing for Manchester United right now and the Red Devils are certainly not in a ‘need to sell’ position with the emphasis on Louis van Gaal adding players.
De Gea has had a wonderful start to the season, which was reinforced by his stunning display in United’s 2-1 over Everton before the international break. De Gea saved a Leighton Baines penalty kick just before half time, then made two incredible saves late on to hand United the win.
I find it very hard to believe that United will let him return to Spain. Let’s see if this rumor has any legs.