DE GEA: I’M AT UNITED FOR LIFE
That’s David de Gea’s take on United last season. In a rare interview, he discusses why he wants to stay and doesn’t regret missing out on Madrid
MANCHESTER UNITED goalkeeper David de Gea has pledged the rest of his career to the club. The 31-year-old goalkeeper has just under a year left on his £375,000-a-week deal but wants to take up the option of a one-year extension — and then stay well beyond that.
‘I would be really happy to be here for as long as they want,’ said De Gea, who joined the club under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011. ‘I didn’t talk with anyone yet, but I want to be here for more years.
‘I feel very good here. It’s a privilege and an honour to be here in this club. It’s one of the best things in my life, to be a part of this club.’
United have not won a trophy since the Europa League in 2017 and last season slumped to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League. De Gea admitted their displays were ‘embarrassing’ but is looking forward to better times under new boss Erik ten Hag.
‘It was a very tough season, embarrassing sometimes. Some games were a mess, a disaster,’ said the Spaniard.
‘So we should learn from last season that it cannot happen again. Losing 4-0 or 5-0, it was unacceptable.
‘We needed a better culture of football, of just thinking about football, nothing else. With a new manager, we are in a good way. He is very focused on football and what we need, and the players feel the same.’
DAVID DE GEA is on the 11th floor of Manchester United’s hotel in the centre of Perth, being asked about a fax machine. A faulty fax machine, as it turned out.
A fax machine that should have delivered the vital documentation confirming De Gea’s transfer to Real Madrid from Manchester United in the summer of 2015 in exchange for Keylor Navas, had there not been a gremlin in the system.
De Gea could have returned to his home town and joined a club that went on to win four Champions Leagues in the next seven years.
Instead, the Spanish goalkeeper stayed at Old Trafford where he added an FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League winner’s medal to the solitary Premier League title he won in his second season under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.
You would understand if De Gea felt the odd pang of regret over how it has all turned out. Some misgivings over remaining at United through a period of decline that hit rock bottom last season, which he describes here as ‘embarrassing’ a ‘mess’ and a ‘disaster’.
But that is not the case. In a rare interview, De Gea is remarkably philosophical about the hand fate dealt him. He speaks passionately about his love for United and Manchester, his adopted home since arriving in an £18.9million deal from Atletico Madrid in 2011. In the current United squad, he is the second longest-serving player after Phil Jones.
It is fair to say the city has grown on De Gea and his wife, Edurne, in the years since she agreed it is ‘uglier than the back of a fridge’. Now 31 and the father of a oneyear-old baby girl, De Gea says he would be happy to stay at Old Trafford for the rest of his career.
‘Yeah, if it’s possible, of course. I would be really happy to be here for as long as they want,’ says De Gea, who has one year left on his £375,000-a-week contract plus the option of an extra year.
‘If they let me stay here, I will stay here, for sure. I’m really comfortable, really happy and hopefully before I leave we can win something.’
Which brings us back to that fax machine, and the missed opportunity and Champions Leagues at Real Madrid.
‘I don’t mind talking about that,’ says De Gea.
‘I’m just thinking about Manchester. It’s my home. I feel very good here. It’s a privilege, it’s an honour to be here in this club. It’s one of the best things in my life, to be a part of this club.
‘I’ve had bad times at clubs, good times, I’ve been in lots of situations where we don’t win as much as we want but I love the club.
‘Of course, we want to win. But winning or not winning, just being in this club is bigger than any trophy.’
The nearest United came to winning a cup recently was last year’s Europa League final in Gdansk where De Gea was beaten by all 11 attempts in a marathon 21- penalty shootout against Villarreal and then missed the decisive spot-kick himself. It is not something he dwells on.
‘Well, the season wasn’t the best finish, but that’s life sometimes,’ says De Gea.
‘It was a bit strange to have to take the penalty, but that happens in football. It was a final, but it doesn’t say anything, it’s just that I missed a penalty.’
That all came at the end of a season in which De Gea had effectively job- shared with Dean Henderson, the strongest challenger to his place in more than a decade at United.
De Gea won out and is now the undisputed No 1 again after Henderson left on loan for Nottingham Forest this summer. ‘I think every time I’ve been in this club, the guy who is on the bench wants to play, he wants to be No 1,’ says De Gea of their rivalry.
‘I always push myself. It doesn’t matter who is on the bench or wants to be in my job, I just give my best all the time and try 100 per cent.’
United certainly needed De Gea in top form last season as they staggered through the club’s worst ever Premier League campaign, under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
The Spaniard admits it was a low point in his United career, and does not pull any punches in his assessment.
‘Yeah, for me and for everyone, it was a very tough season, embarrassing sometimes. Some games were a mess, a disaster.
‘So we should learn from last season that it cannot happen again because it was tough. I hope everyone reflects.
‘It was painful to be there and we are not capable of winning games. Losing 4-0 or 5-0, it was unacceptable. Sometimes you
‘With a new manager, we are in a good way — he is very focused on football and we need that’
have to feel pain to go up and keep going.’
De Gea was voted the Players’ Player of the Year at United, to go with the four Player of the Year trophies he had won previously.
He nods in agreement when reminded of a comment from former United manager Jose Mourinho that it is not a good sign at any club if the goalkeeper is the outstanding performer.
‘Yeah, totally agree,’ he says. ‘It’s good for me, of course. I love to win trophies, but I totally agree with what he said. It must be a striker or a midfielder. That’s what happens for sure this season.’
There is a sense of optimism building around Erik ten Hag in the short time the new manager has been in charge. United are unbeaten in three games on tour, scoring 11 goals and conceding two, ahead of today’s final game against Aston Villa in Perth.
De Gea has welcomed the new ideas and tougher discipline that Ten Hag has brought to the job.
‘We needed a better culture of football, of just thinking about football, nothing else,’ he says.
‘With a new manager, we are in a good way. He is very focused on football and what we need, and the players feel the same.
‘Of course, you cannot be late for training or for meetings, that’s life. You have to be on time and professional.
‘He’s very intense. Everything he says is fully focused, 100 per cent just in training.
‘We need to adapt to him but we have showed already in those three games we are pressing high, we want to win the ball and keep it and dictate.’
When United beat Crystal Palace in Melbourne on Tuesday, Ten Hag was heard screaming ‘what the f*** are you doing?’ when De Gea launched a long ball downfield, although it is understood he was more frustrated at 19-year- old Charlie Savage for not giving his goalkeeper the option of a shorter pass.
The suggestion that De Gea is not as good playing out from the back as, say Alisson or Ederson, seems to rankle.
‘I think I showed already,’ he says. ‘If you watch my games with the national team or when we played with Sir Alex at the beginning, you could see it — I don’t need to show to anyone.
‘I’ve been playing for many years. As always, I’m going to stay quiet, calm and try to show that to the team and play out from the back.
‘But the most important thing for me is making the saves and helping the team.’