Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea reportedly wanted to ‘return to Spain’ after his calamitous performance against Sevilla in the Europa League.
De Gea is in the spotlight once again after making another costly error in United’s 1-0 defeat at West Ham on Sunday.
The Spaniard failed to stop a weak effort from Said Benrahma, which ended up being the only goal of the game.
The result all but secured West Ham’s Premier League status, while it has cast doubt over the Red Devils’ bid to finish inside the top four.
Champions League qualification has seemed nailed on for quite some time, with some talk of a ridiculous quadruple not too long ago, but their recent results have given Liverpool some hope they can finish above their rivals.
After his woeful error at the London Stadium, there has been a lot said about De Gea’s future at Old Trafford.
The 32-year-old is out of contract in the summer and United are reportedly working on an extension.
De Gea is the club’s highest earner and has a higher salary than any other goalkeeper in world football, and the Red Devils hierarchy are hoping the player will accept new terms with a reduced wage.
He has often been criticised for his poor ball-playing ability, but the sort of mistake he made against the Hammers has begged the question: What the hell does Erik ten Hag see in him?
The Dutch manager has often defended his goalkeeper, saying he is happy to keep him at the club, and multiple reports say Ten Hag wants De Gea to remain his No. 1.
This is a baffling decision, with plenty of superior goalkeepers out there.
Being able to play out from the back is imperative these days, especially at a club the size of Manchester United; and they have no chance of being able to do so effectively with De Gea in between the sticks.
De Gea has been a wonderful servant for the club and will leave a legend, but there is a time to move on, and United should have done so a long time ago, even if he somehow has the most clean sheets in the Premier League this season.
And according to ESPN, the former Atletico Madrid youngster did consider his future after Ten Hag’s side were knocked out of the Europa League by Sevilla.
United went to Spain for the second leg of their quarter-final having thrown away a two-goal lead at Old Trafford.
They got off to a woeful start when De Gea played a silly pass to Harry Maguire – who did ask for the ball and was equally, if not more, at blame – and was punished as Youssef En-Nesyri, who opened the scoring.
Loic Bade doubled Sevilla’s advantage after the break before De Gea once again f**ked it, to put the tie beyond doubt.
The Spaniard failed to deal with a hoof up the pitch, which allowed En-Nesyri to make it 3-0 from long range, thanks to De Gea being miles out of his goal.
What De Gea tried to do is anyone’s guess. It looked like he tried to control the ball having come out to deal with it, but he could have been trying to find a teammate. Honestly, who the hell knows? He probably still doesn’t.
According to ESPN, De Gea ‘was keen’ to end his 12-year stay at Old Trafford by ‘returning to Spain’ at the end of the season.
The experienced shot-stopper (that term is being used very loosely here) ‘accepted’ that was unrealistic with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all happy with their current first-choice ‘keepers.
Outside those three clubs, no side in Spain would be able to afford De Gea’s £375,000-a-week salary, the report states.
It is added that the 32-year-old’ accepts that he will have to take a substantial pay cut to stay at Old Trafford’, though an agreement is ‘close’.
The only Premier League goalkeeper with a worse save percentage over the last three seasons is Leeds United’s Ilian Meslier and only five ‘keepers have conceded more than De Gea since the start of 2020-21.
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