Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea is set to join Manchester United, with Sir Alex Ferguson confirming that the young Spaniard will be Edwin van der Sar’s replacement.
“We’ve been working on it for quite a while, we identified him a while back as one we should go for,” Ferguson told SkySports after the 2-1 friendly defeat to Juventus on Tuesday. “He’s a young goalkeeper, very quick, with good composure and presence. He’s an outstanding replacement for Edwin van der Sar. We were looking for someone with the same types of qualities. One great quality Edwin always had was his composure and organisational ability. David De Gea is very similar that way.”
De Gea is widely regarded as one of the best young goalkeepers in the world. My only worry about him is his age (21). Playing for Atletico Madrid is one thing. Playing for Man United is another. In Spain he is called upon to make five or six saves a game. At United he might go 60 minutes without making a save. That is a very different mindset.
But United have been following him for the past twelve months and Eric Steele has seem him play a lot. What do you think of the signing? Happy with it?
If you have not seen De Gea in action, he is a what United will be getting:
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