The Athletic’s David Ornstein has recently appeared on the Tifo Podcast YouTube channel, where he responded to some Premier League-related questions – including the future of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.
As per Sky Sports, De Gea has received some criticism ‘following a series of uncharacteristic mistakes this season’. The most recent of these mistakes occurred during the Red Devils’ 3-1 FA Cup loss to Chelsea last weekend.
Following De Gea’s recent mistakes and the criticism that has been directed at him this season, Ornstein shared his thoughts on the Spaniard’s future during his recent appearance on the Tifo Podcast YouTube channel, saying: “The Manchester United goalkeeping situation has come sharply into the focus once again after David de Gea’s disappointing performance in the FA Cup semi-final defeat by Chelsea at Wembley over the weekend – De Gea making just his latest in what’s turning into a string of high-profile errors that aren’t really justifying his number-one status nor an exorbitant salary.
“He has been linked for years with moves away from Manchester United. Those links aren’t coming so much anymore and that perhaps reflects what’s going on between the sticks.
“He is, on his day, still one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but Manchester United, in Sergio Romero, have a number two who many people in football tell me should be a number one. They also have Dean Henderson out on loan at Sheffield United. On the whole, he’s had a wonderful season, and he’s also in Gareth Southgate’s thinking for a call-up in the double-header that England play in September, so there is pressure internally on David de Gea now, and many people feel that it’s time for Romero to step up and get a place in the team before the end of the season.”
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Romero hasn’t made a Premier League appearance for Manchester United so far this season, however, there has been some speculation that the Argentinian goalkeeper could replace De Gea between the sticks for Manchester United for their final two games of the Premier League campaign, so if the 33-year-old does get the opportunity to play in those games, he could perhaps make a case to become the club’s first-choice goalkeeper moving forward, following De Gea’s recent error-prone performances.
Meanwhile, Henderson, who is out on loan from the Red Devils at Sheffield United at present, has earned an average overall rating of 6.75/10 from his 35 appearances in England’s top flight this season according to WhoScored. That is higher than De Gea’s rating of 6.55 for the 2019/20 Premier League campaign.
With that in mind, it may be understandable why Ornstein claimed that “there is pressure internally” on De Gea, as it may be fair to say that Manchester United do have other options who could potentially take his place in the future.