It sounds like Gary Neville has made his mind up about whether David de Gea should be kept on as Manchester United’s No 1 next season.
The former Manchester United captain believes the time has come for United to replace the Spaniard while warning that other players in the squad are not equipped to take Erik ten Hag’s side to the next level.
This criticism comes after De Gea claimed the Premier League’s Golden Glove award this season, but let’s face it, that accolade should be given to the entire defence.
De Gea’s contract at Old Trafford expires on 30 June but he is expected to sign a new deal on new terms before then. The question is will he be happy as a back-up keeper?
Neville believes signing a top keeper should be a priority this summer, along with signing a centre-forward.
“You have got to start with a centre forward and a goalkeeper,” Neville told the Metro. “If you don’t have those two positions fixed in a football team you are massively struggling.
“Manchester United are massively struggling particularly up front but it has come to the time where they have to get a top goalkeeper. The Cup final [against City] said it to us all. I don’t like mentioning it too much but the second goal shouldn’t have gone in the back of the net.
“The reality of it is, David de Gea has had a great career at Manchester United, he has been a fantastic goalkeeper. But now is the time for him to be challenged and get someone in to be that no1.
“But you can look at midfield as well. There is a problem where they have got two players who have got legs who aren’t good enough on the ball and two good enough on the ball who haven’t got the legs.
“I still think the composition of that midfield is not right so they need to sort that out. You can have one player who maybe can’t get about but he [ten Hag] wants to play through the midfield with technical players and he can’t do that with the players that he’s got there.”
United have been linked with a number of keepers this summer, including Diogo Costa and David Raya, but a lot will depend on how much money Ten Hag has to spend.
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