The Spaniard will get the reception he deserves when he returns to Old Trafford on Saturday, but that doesn't mean he should have been kept in 2023
When Manchester United sacked Erik ten Hag in October 2024, there was the usual outpouring of tributes from his players. Bruno Fernandes wrote: "Thank you for everything, boss! I appreciate the trust and the moments we shared. I wish you all the best for the future. Even though this last period hasn’t been great for any of us, I hope the fans can hold on to the good things the manager did for our club."
Alejandro Garnacho chimed in: "I will always be grateful to you for giving me the opportunity and the confidence to play for this club. It hasn't gone as well as we wanted, but I will remember the good times we had together, and I wish you all the best in the future."
Luke Shaw said he was "grateful for what we achieved together"; Kobbie Mainoo thanked Ten Hag "for giving me the opportunity to play for my boyhood club"; Lisandro Martinez said "we're really feeling it".
One former United player, however, had a different reaction to the news. Around three hours after United announced Ten Hag had been fired, David de Gea popped up on X. He had no words, instead posting an emoji of a cupped hand, a gesture famous in Italy to express disbelief or displeasure. While it is impossible to say exactly what De Gea was thinking or even if he was referring to Ten Hag, it certainly seemed like he was celebrating the Dutch manager's departure. And given how Ten Hag treated De Gea, who can blame him?
Saturday's friendly between United and Fiorentina will see De Gea return to Old Trafford for the first time since his acrimonious departure, giving the goalkeeper the chance to properly say goodbye to the supporters after being denied a proper farewell by the nature of his exit in the summer of 2023.
And as well as regret about the way the club treated one of their greatest players, there is bound to be a lot of revisionism in the stands and a feeling that United should have kept hold of him rather than replace him so suddenly with Andre Onana. It is important, though, that United fans take off their rose-tinted spectacles and remember that the club were right to move on from De Gea; they simple chose the wrong successor.
Getty ImagesTen Hag should have known earlier
There can be no doubt that United made a real hash of their decision to eventually get rid of De Gea. The Spain international said goodbye to his team-mates after the FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City while fully expecting to sign a new long-term contract, on reduced terms to his previous one, and extend his 12-year spell with the Red Devils. But a couple of weeks later, he was told that the proposed contract had been withdrawn, replaced with a far lower salary, and that the club were looking for a new No.1.
United had had plenty of time to make their decision as they were well aware that De Gea's contract ran out in June 2023 and that it could be extended with little fuss for another year on the same terms. Then-sporting director John Murtough, therefore, should have made finding a new goalkeeper a big priority while Ten Hag should also have made his feelings clear about De Gea. After all, it was no secret that the Dutchman wanted a goalkeeper who could play out from the back and that De Gea was not capable of doing so at a high level.
Indeed, he had initially instructed the ex-Atletico Madrid man to play more with his feet but then abandoned that idea after the 4-0 debacle at Brentford in the manager's second game in charge.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLack of respect
The sad truth is that United did not want to commit to buying a new No.1 in the same summer in which they were embarking on a search for a new striker, and they saw extending De Gea's contract as a stop-gap solution which would save them money. They changed their minds, however, after the cup final, and their dilly-dallying and subsequent U-turn led to them showing a massive lack of respect to the longest-serving goalkeeper in their history, a man who had played 545 matches and kept 190 clean sheets for the club, all despite playing in one of United's worst periods within the last three decades.
De Gea had just helped the Red Devils finish third in the Premier League securing a return to the Champions League, and won the Golden Glove for keeping the most clean sheets in the top-flight. He had every right to feel mistreated, and the manner of his departure led to him having a year away from the game as, in his own words, it was "difficult to find motivation for a new chapter after 12 years at a top club".
Getty ImagesPowers were waning
There are two other inescapable facts about this unsavoury saga. First, that De Gea proved unable to adapt to the modern game by not improving his footwork, and second, that his shot-stopping powers were also on the wane. Ten Hag could have seen examples of both in the trip to Brentford all the way back in August 2022, when United shipped four goals in the first half at the Gtech Community Stadium.
De Gea had let a soft shot from Josh Dasilva slip through his hands into the net for the opening goal in the 10th minute, and followed that up by giving the ball away with a sloppy pass, leading to Mathias Jensen doubling the Bees' lead. They were far from the only high-profile errors the 'keeper would commit that season, either.
In the FA Cup third-round tie against Everton, he feebly let a tame shot trickle between his legs before sending it straight to Conor Coady to score; in the humbling 3-0 defeat by Sevilla in April, he played a hospital pass to Harry Maguire which led to Youssef En-Nesyri scoring before, in the second half, he rushed out of his area to kick away a through-ball but sent it straight to En-Nesyri, who chipped him to make it 3-0; in May, he let in a tame strike by Said Benrahma slip through his hands in the defeat at West Ham, his shocked face showing he knew how much he had messed up.
GettyFinal straw
When it came to the FA Cup final, De Gea got across goal far too late to stop Ilkay Gundogan's bouncing volley from going in, although admittedly Raphael Varane and Casemiro had not helped his cause by failing to block the shot despite standing right by the ball. De Gea had, meanwhile, conceded the fastest goal in FA Cup final history earlier in the game when he helplessly watched Gundogan's long-range volley drop into his net.
But it was in fact his kicking at Wembley which was most concerning, as he kept pumping the ball either out of play or straight to a blue shirt when United were trying to force an equaliser.
That game is believed to be the straw that broke the camel's back as far as Ten Hag was concerned, and few fans could disagree, but he had had plenty of previous warnings about De Gea's fading powers. Had he acted upon them and made it clear he wanted a new goalkeeper, the ugly situation that ensued could have been avoided and the 'keeper would have received the emotional farewell his career at United deserved.
