Fiorentina star David de Gea has shared an emotionally charged message after the Manchester United legend made his long-awaited return to football.
David de Gea missed the entirety of the 2023-24 season of football after his exit from Manchester United following the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
The 33-year-old Spaniard had been keen to extend his stay at Old Trafford and was reportedly willing to take a pay cut to remain at United in 2023.
However, talks over a new United deal failed to materialise and De Gea made his exit from the Premier League club after his contract expired.
De Gea had been linked with clubs from around the world, including teams in his native homeland of Spain, Italy, England and Saudi Arabia.
The former United No 1 had been teasing fans on social media over the course of the 2023-24 season about his potential return to football by posting training clips.
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Man Utd legend De Gea sends message
David de Gea finally ended his free-agent status after he completed his move to Serie A side Fiorentina earlier this month.
The Manchester United legend had not played in a match since the Red Devils’ 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the 2023 FA Cup final at Wembley.
De Gea made the bench for Fiorentina’s 1-1 draw to Parma at the Stadio Ennio Tardini and was an unused substitute in the Serie A match.
However, the former Spain international was handed his club debut in the 3-3 draw against Puskas Akademia in the first leg of the Conference League play-offs.
Following his first appearance for Fiorentina on Thursday, De Gea took to Instagram and shared a heartfelt message to mark his hotly anticipated return to football.
“What a feeling to be back, incredible but with lots of emotions and feelings,” he said.
“I want to thank my family, friends and supporters of Fiorentina for the reception and look forward to the upcoming season to see what we can achieve together.”
Fiorentina boss on De Gea
Speaking ahead of the draw against Puskas Akademia, Fiorentina manager Raffaele Palladino revealed why former United star De Gea did not play against Parma.
Raffaele Palladino played Pietro Terracciano ahead of De Gea for the Parma draw last week, with the Fiorentina boss claiming that the United legend “needed more time.”
However, the 40-year-old Italian admitted that the former Spain star had “worked hard in training” before he handed him his debut against Puskas Akademia.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference (via Football Italia) earlier this week, Palladino said: “De Gea needed more time, but he worked hard in training and can be called upon to start.
“Puskas Akademia are top of their league, have started the season earlier and so in better physical shape, they score a lot of goals and concede very few.
“They play the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formations, play in transition, but we want to go through and must use our heads.”
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