David De Gea has had a baptism of fire at Manchester United. His shot stopping skills have never been questioned but The Premier League has provided a much sterner physical test than he would have had in Spain at Atletico Madrid. He is clearly improving and has been pivotal in several big Manchester United games this season. But there is still much room for improvement where it comes collecting crosses in the air and dominating his area. He still lacks presence in the box and opposition players clearly focus on this weakness.
But, soccersweep believes that Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn’t be the player he is today had he gone straight to Spain. In England he developed his stupendous skills but also learned how to look after himself in a league where heavy contact is still par for the course. Similarly, De Gea will be a much better keeper for his time in England. He will always have the shot stopping prowess but The EPL has already posed all sorts of goalkeeping questions that he wouldn’t otherwise have been asked.
Still, there remains a feeling that Manchester United is viewed by De Gea as a finishing school rather than a career long move. When De Gea left Spain, Iker Casillas and Victor Valdes had the two top jobs and neither looked close to budging. It’s questionable whether the player would be happy to go to Real Madrid after already playing for rivals Atletico in La Liga. So the most obvious destination, if De Gea were to leave, would surely be Barcelona.
There has been talk of Victor Valdes, 31, moving on at the end of this season, with Arsenal among his rumoured suitors. This would leave a De Gea sized gap in the Catalan side and it’s easy to picture the young Spaniard playing for the best team of the last decade, before too long. Manchester United fans will hope that he remains at Old Trafford for a time yet and continues to wow the fans with his acrobatics. But you do sense that the ultimate destination for De Gea could well be the Camp Nou.
Follow us on Twitter @soccersweep10
