Manchester United hero Paddy Crerand says that David de Gea has improved massively since he joined the club from Atletico Madrid. The young Spaniard, who moved to Manchester United in the summer of 2011 for £17.8m, has been brilliant in the last 18 months but struggled when he first arrived in England.
His teething troubles were well documented as he put in a series of dodgy displays which begged serious questions about his long term ability to survive and blossom in this league.
But, as with Cristiano Ronaldo, the English league has toughened the lad up and he’s most certainly come out the other end as a better player.
The batty yet loveable old Scotsman Crerand reckons that De Gea can be as good as Machester United’s Great Dane:
‘I remember when Schmeichel first came here, he struggled a little bit with crossed balls, but he got better as he got older and was an absolutely fantastic keeper for Manchester United. This kid [De Gea] could get there no problem.’
‘He’s getting better and better. I remember when he first arrived – if you watch Spanish football, you never see balls being thrown into the box – so when he came here at first teams tried to make it as difficult as possible for him,’
‘He must have found it strange but he’s improved out of all recognition – he doesn’t have any problems with that type of ball into the box any more’.
We think this guy has the lot. He’s like a cat with glue on its paws – amazingly quick, agile and he seems to hold onto everything.
Without wishing to be the monger of doom, it’s surely only a matter of time before either Barcelona or Real Madrid attempts to bring him back to his homeland. Manchester United can only do so much before it comes down to the will of the player. But the 24 year old does seem settled and must be loving all the recent latin additions to the squad.
But de Gea has undoubtedly become the sort of world class talent which The Premier League will want to hold onto.
