After a year out of the game, it could maybe have been expected that former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea would struggle to recapture his best form.
But as De Gea broke new ground during Fiorentina’s 2-1 win over AC Milan last weekend – the Spaniard saved two penalties in a remarkable individual performance – he showed that the shot-stopping prowess which once made him the planet’s finest glovesman remains.
David de Gea spent a year out of the game after Manchester United left him leave on a free transfer during the summer of 2023.
But, with Fiorentina losing only once in his six appearances for La Viola, the former Atletico Madrid number one is proving that class is, indeed, permanent.
And for Lucas Martinez Quarta, the Fiorentina centre-half, it is a privilege to line up alongside such an icon of the modern game.
Manchester United ‘legend’ David de Gea thriving at Fiorentina
“We know what kind of player De Gea is,” the Argentina international tells Tuttomercatoweb. “For me, he is a legend. He spent 12 years at Manchester United and won titles. For us, it is very important to have someone like him in the team.
“We must make the most of him. If he then makes us win games like Sunday [against AC Milan], it is great.”
There were some who doubted De Gea when Fiorentina offered the 33-year-old a contract over the summer.
After so long out of the picture, could De Gea roll back the years in Florence? Would he even be an upgrade on the man who held the Fiorentina number one jersey at the time, Pietro Terracciano?
Performances like the one he produced against Milan – denying both Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham from 12 yards – should go a long way to silencing those doubters.
“Italian football perhaps hasn’t understood the importance of his arrival,” Serie A reporter Luca Calamai tells Tuttomercatoweb, lauding Fiorentina director Daniele Prade for his ambition and his belief in the experienced Spaniard.
“The first to not understand it were the Florentines. He arrived in silence, with the label of a pensioner. -[De Gea] is a world-class player.
“Prade deserves a lot of compliments. He brought in a real number one.”
Man United, at least, have an elite goalkeeper themselves standing in the spot De Gea once made his own.
Andre Onana has been in terrific form under Erik ten Hag this season, saving the Red Devils from further humiliation on numerous occasions while moving joint-top of the Premier League’s Golden Glove standings.
Peter Schmeichel lauds Andre Onana improvement at Man United
“[Onana] has been better,” says Man United icon Peter Schmeichel, feeling that the appointment of Jelle Ten Rouwelaar is the club’s new goalkeeping coach has helped Onana to make the spot his own at Old Trafford.
“He has settled in a lot better for sure. I think Onana looks more comfortable in the Manchester United goal now. I think one of the things that has happened is they have changed the goalkeeping coach. [Ten Rouwelaar] is probably working more on his strengths and his way in the game.
“[Man United is] is still conceding, and he is part of the team. So it’s not where it should be.
“But, from where he started off, I think he has improved. I think he is giving his team a little bit more confidence so that they can commit more people forward, that he can clean up behind.
“Andre definitely looks more at ease with being the Man United goalkeeper and he has taken some of the big mistakes out of his game.
“And I think that is positive.”
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