The tributes are flooding in for David de Gea, who announced earlier on Saturday that he has left Manchester United after 12 years at the club.
The 32-year-old was in talks to extend his contract but after lengthy negotiations, no agreement was found and he instead left the club as a free agent.
His former Manchester United team-mates have already been quick to shower the goalkeeper with praise, with Bruno Fernandes among those to suggest that he deserved a better send-off.
Now, former Red and De Gea’s team-mate for three seasons at Old Trafford, Rio Ferdinand has delivered his reaction to the breaking news.
Farewell David De Gea ❤️
🧤 545 Appearences & 190 Clean Sheets!
🙏 Best wishes to David De Gea the best in his future endeavours, as he leaves #mufc a Club Legend. pic.twitter.com/a0nAYTaWaU
— FIVE (@FIVEUK) July 8, 2023
“Whether you think David de Gea is good enough or not, that’s up for debate,” Ferdinand said on his FIVE channel, as seen above.
“But he’s been an unreal servant to this football club. 12 years, I think, he’s had at the club. Similar to the amount of time I was at the club.
“Been player of the year, I think, four or five times in that time. Phenomenal at times, been the best player at the club in a few of those years.
“Had moments where it didn’t go well, lost a bit of form at times, lost a bit of confidence. But in the main, served the club remarkably well.
“Never been in and out of trouble, never brought the club into disrepute. Outstanding professional, great character, one of the boys.”
De Gea had his highs and lows at United but there were certainly more of the latter – far more. He will be remembered fondly and hopefully, he is given the send-off he deserves in the form of a testimonial match.
He was the last remaining player from the Sir Alex Ferguson era and that is significant – he was also one of the very few players from that era that had his best years after the legendary Scotsman’s retirement.
“De Gea had his highs and lows at United but there were certainly more of the latter – far more.”
an innocent error or far more likely a classic freudian slip – and we all love those – De Gea has been v poor for a long time now – the guy has been uniteds goalie for longer than a decade. the game changes, and clubs needs to act accordingly – a gk for 12 years at a supposedly top club is absurd. he was also paid 375k a week – these things matter and are literally why united are a complete failure these past ten years, it is zero sum game and DDG earning 375k means less money for others areas – not his fault i would add, but him gone is a good thing. also lets be honest no other top club is in for him.