De Gea is certainly a goal keeper with real pedigree. He starred in Spain’s Under 17 European Championship winning and Under 17 World Cup runners up teams, and since breaking into the Athletico first team the club has won both the Europa League and Super Cup. He also possess a frame and qualities similar to that of Van Der Sar. Even with this impressive youth record, and obvious potential, is it not a risk to purchase a goal keeper of this age and experience as a replacement at one of the world’s biggest clubs?
At £17 million De Gea will be the second most expensive goalkeeper in world football if he does leave Athletico for this reported fee. Surely it would be safer for the Manchester outfit to go for someone with at least a bit more experience. Stekelenburg, Van Der Sar’s own recommendation, or even Buffon, the most expensive goalkeeper of all time, have many years of experience under their belts as well as the skills needed to become successful replacements at Old Trafford.
Ferguson has a knack of buying and developing youngsters into world class players who can perform on the biggest stage. One recent example of this was the signing of a relatively unknown Javier Hernandez before last summers Wold Cup finals. The player impressed during the tournament and went on to score twenty goals in all competitions for the club, possibly more if he nets in the Champions League final, where he will probably start.
With around £113 million available, according to Manchester United’s most recent accounts, which could rise even higher when season ticket revenue is added before next season commences, it’s not as if Ferguson doesn’t have the funds readily available. The Glazers have allegedly given the United boss the go ahead to spend substantially this summer in order to attract the big names and bolster the current squad. With big names linked to United in previous weeks nobody can be sure who will be arriving during the summer.
The club tends to keep quiet during the negotiation stages of deals in order to reduce interest from others however with players such as David De Gea, Gareth Bale, Javier Pastore, Ashley Young, Raphael Varene and Alexis Sanchez speculated to be on the Manchester clubs radar it seems that Ferguson will be sticking with youth for the time being.
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