Gary Neville has urged Manchester United to be brutal and follow through with axing David De Gea, stating that Manchester United have to have a world-class goalkeeper.
David De Gea has been an unbelievable servant for Manchester United. He’s spent 12 years at the club, won numerous trophies and has made more saves than anyone can count. But as of late, he’s come under major scrutiny.
The bleak reality is, his distribution is ridiculously poor and this is now, unfortunately for De Gea, a massive part of the modern-day keepers game.
It sadly looks like this is the end for United and De Gea, with his contract set to expire at 12 AM BST on the 1st of July 2023. Many are torn with the decision, with the goalkeeper spot something United haven’t had to worry about in years. However, one ex-pro has made his mind up and believes the Spaniard’s time has come.
Gary Neville on De Gea’s potential departure
Speaking on the Overlap Live (Via Mirror), Gary Neville had the following to say on the situation:
“I don’t want to have a go at a goalkeeper who has been brilliant for Manchester United for the last ten years. He has had difficult moments and I didn’t think he was good enough to be a Manchester United goalkeeper at the beginning,”
“He was too slight, lacked the physicality. I gave him a lot of criticism. There was a period in the middle for four or five years where he was very good and performing at a high level. He was their best player when they were a poor team, but he still performed at a high level.
“Then in the last couple of years, he [Roy Keane] said it, you cannot let that goal in, the second one. Being Manchester United’s goalkeeper is the hardest position in English football. It brings the most scrutiny.
“I had two great keepers in Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar but in between that we lost four titles out of five. You have to have a world-class goalkeeper and United need to make that change now.”
Brutal honesty from the former right-back, but we’d be inclined to agree.
Set aside the sentiment for De Gea, he simply hasn’t been good enough this season and has cost us in vital moments.
With the Onana move really coming together now, it seems De Gea will have had his last moment in a United shirt. Thanks for the memories Dave – but it’s time to move on.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
