Do Not Sell De Gea

There are a fair amount of rumours making the rounds since the January transfer window is coming to a close and those rumours include the sale of Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea with reports stating that Sir Alex is unhappy with his performances this season. 

I personally think that United should not sell De Gea for the simple reason that he has the potential to become one of the greatest goalkeepers in the world and if United do sell him, they will possibly regret it. He is an excellent shot stopper, some of the saves he has made have been world class. I know that a few of his performances this season have been shaky but that is partially due to our defense. United's defense has been anything but strong this season and it would be enough to put any goalkeeper under immense pressure. The fact that De Gea has kept us in games singlehandedly (the match against Spurs last weekend) and the fact that he's been able to put out good performances in spite of how weak our defense is, is nothing short of incredible. 

This is not to say however that De Gea does not have his shortcomings. For one, his physique is less than ideal for a goalkeeper. Yes, he's tall alright but he needs to bulk up. He gets bullied a lot by the opposition whenever United have to deal with corners and this is one of the main reasons as to why United has conceded a lot of their goals from corners this season. He also tends to let us down in matches when it matters the most. In the Newcastle game for instance, his performance was below par. 

Despite his pros and his cons, United supporters have to realise that De Gea is only 22 years old. Since when, have we as United supporters, demanded instant success from any player? Yes, there is a certain level of expectation at one of the best clubs in the world but can this really be how spoiled we are? Since when do we demand that United sign big stars with proven experience? There are a lot of players that United have signed that none of us knew anything about, Javier Hernandez and Cristiano Ronaldo to name just two. 

Did Peter Schmeichel or Edwin van der Sar gain instant "Legend" status in their first two seasons at United? Exactly. Schmeichel, believe it or not, was not very effective in the beginning and it took VDS quite a while to adjust as well. If United had not given these two goalkeepers the time they needed to develop and adjust to the Premier League, they would have become legends elsewhere.

Let me finish off by saying that yes, we expect De Gea to do his job but placing more expectation than is necessary on him is not going to solve anything, neither is selling him. United need to give him the time he needs to develop and we as United supporters need to be patient with him.

Stats this season in the EPL:

Games:     Saves:     Clean Sheets:
15             59           3

"He's just a unique talent. Ultimately, I think they come around in cycles. Iker Casillas was 17 when he got in the Real Madrid team, I saw Gianluigi Buffon when he was 17... The qualities we've all seen, and the manager has seen, have ticked the boxes. There is always an element of 'can they handle 76,000 at Old Trafford?' but I've seen him play at the Nou Camp, man of the match. Not fazed." Manchester United goalkeeper coach Eric Steele, July 2011.