It appears Sir Alex Ferguson has finally got his man and is set to complete the signing of Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea. Ferguson feels that De Gea is an outstanding replacement for Van Der Sar and there is little doubt he is an outstanding goalkeeper in nearly every way. But Premier League goalkeepers are much like fine wines, as they tend to get better with age. One example being Van Der Sar himself and another being the evergreen Brad Friedel – who has been linked with a move to Liverpool at 40 years young. So does a 20 year old keeper who has only had 2 years at Ateltico Madrid and has been yet capped for his country really ready to be become United’s No1?
Well it appears Ferguson is convinced and is prepared to pay £18m in a deal that is set to be finalized on Monday. Ferguson said on De Gea “He’s a young goalkeeper, very quick, good composure, presence and an outstanding replacement for Van Der Sar. We were looking for the same type of qualities as Edwin, because the one great quality Edwin always had was his composure and organizational ability. With David De Gea, he is very similar that way.”
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However, isn’t part of what makes Van Der Sar the great goalkeeper he is, the experience he has in the game? This is something that De Gea will have to contend with and prove despite his lack of experience he is an outstanding goalkeeper. Manchester United fans will be wary that this is a big gamble from Ferguson and few early errors next season would not help to calm any nerves.
It’s unlikely that De Gea will get the opportunity to ease into life as it appears he has very much being picked as the number one choice next season and not just purely one for the future or back up for a more experienced keeper. Next season will be interesting because Van Dar Sar is retiring and Tomasz Kuszczak is likely to have moved on, leaving only De Gea and Danish keeper Anders Lindegaard. Lindegaard was only really brought to the club as backup and besides you wouldn’t expect an £18m player to be sitting on the bench.
So the bottom line is De Gea will have to learn quickly and rise to the challenge of playing for one the World’s biggest clubs. But to be fair to Fergie he doesn’t get a lot wrong and although it is a gamble, he has obviously seen something in the player that is worth taking a punt on even though that would have been other more experienced options. But Ferguson has obviously been impressed with what he has seen from De Gea playing in La Liga and Europe. De Gea has also represented Spain at various youth levels up to the U21 squad and came close to making the Spain 2010 World Cup squad.
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