DE GEA QUIT FEARS

FEARS KEEPER MAY LEAVE IN SEARCH OF EUROPEAN GLORY

ERIC Steele, the man who played a key role in bringing David De Gea to United, fears the Spaniard may leave the club in order to try to win the Champions League.

The keeper has won the Reds’ Player of the Year award for four of the last five seasons, and has been strongly linked with Real Madrid in the past.

Chelsea stopper Thibaut Courtois moved to Real to end that speculation over the summer. But Steele, United’s former goalkeeping coach, believes De Gea may still look to move away from Old Trafford.

“If you ask David now, he is fully committed to Manchester United,” he said.

“He has got a fantastic rapport with the players and the fans, but he wants to be a winner and inevitably he might look at his pathway now and think ‘will I get that at Manchester United?’

“Certainly at the moment they are still in the Champions League. But he sees other clubs getting bigger and stronger, it is becoming more competitive. And he is now 28, is coming into his prime years so it is understandable that he may be looking.”

However, Steele said the attraction of Manchester United will make it a hard decision to leave Old Trafford.

“But until somebody tells me he is leaving I think he will be fully committed,” he said.

“Long may David stay in the Premier League and long may he continue, but you would understand why if he wants to win that ultimate prize. The one thing that’s missing is he wants to win that Champions League.

“Will he be gaining that at Manchester United? I hope he does - I really do - for the sake of the club because when you have been at somewhere like Manchester United you cannot stop being a supporter just when you leave it. So, ideally, I want him to stay and give great value to Manchester United and to the Premier League.”

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