De Gea is still too good for second fiddle

WORLD CLASS United keeper David de Gea in action

WHATEVER you think about the Europa League, you have to tip your hat to the fact it has a £350,000-a-week goalkeeper as one of its poster boys.

When Manchester United take on the might of Aston Villa on Sunday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will probably prefer Dean Henderson to David de Gea.

We are talking David de Gea here. A perennial winner of Manchester United’s Player of the Year award. A fivetime winner of

Match of the

Day’s Save of the Season.

A player who has not exactly inspired United to continued glories but, instead, has helped make their under-achievement less pronounced.

He has a Premier League medal to his name but, essentially, the last half a decade of his career has been spent firefighting.

Unlike a keeper such as Ederson, he has not had the luxury of honing his Glenn Hoddle-style distribution skills.

He conceded three goals in Rome but none were his fault and he was called on to make several saves that were trademark De Gea. An instinctive point-blanker here, a block with his legs there.

Has there ever been a blue-chip keeper who has used his lower limbs more than De Gea?

But now it seems his time, certainly at

United, might be fading.

And as much as Henderson (below) had a decent season on loan at Sheffield United, that seems slightly bizarre.

De Gea does not turn 31 until later this year and might not even be at his best yet. Last night he looked as sharp and as agile as he has always done, and that is no surprise.

He is a bona fide, world-class shot-stopper. He’s made some howlers in recent seasons but, considering how many chances United have allowed, that is the law of averages.

There are those who have long thought De Gea is overrated. But one thing is for sure – he is better than playing second fiddle to a keeper who, internationally, plays third fiddle to Jordan Pickford.

It is a tricky situation for Solskjaer to sort out. But David de Gea should be no one’s number two.