Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has won the Players’ Player of the Year award for the 2021/22 season.
In an underwhelming campaign, the fight for the end of season awards is realistically a fight between de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo.
De Gea wins Player of the Year
It is de Gea who has got the nod from his teammates this time around, after a campaign which has seen him well and truly return to form.
In 2017/18, de Gea became the first United player to be awarded the Players’ Player of the Year prize three times, and he extends that record to four with this victory.
De Gea took to Instagram to celebrate the award and there were some current and former teammates in the replies.
Juan Mata’s departure this summer has already been confirmed by the club, and he congratulated his close friend on the award.
Marcos Rojo was sold by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in February 2021, moving to Boca Juniors, and he also wanted to congratulate de Gea on his latest award.
He called the Red Devils goalkeeper a ‘machine’ and it was difficult to argue with that description during a season in which de Gea was often forced into decisive action, even in games where United played well and won.
Erik ten Hag may want de Gea to work on his distribution in terms of playing out from the back but it would be a surprise if he had any other complaints about the Spaniard.
In a summer of such uncertainty and such a big to-do list for the new boss, you would expect him to be content with the situation between the sticks.
At the end of last season, there was real talk of Dean Henderson taking over the number one spot but de Gea has firmly reestablished himself now.