[led_scholes]

So you're not comparing them as goalkeepers then, just their careers. Well then, yes, obviously Barthez has had a better career. It in no way makes him a better goalkeeper than DDG.

No sorry I wasn't clear: I m comparing their ability in their whole career.

As I said DDG's peak (13-17) reached higher standards than Barthez. But overall in their career, Barthez proved to be a better gk. DDG at 28 was already a mediocre GK. By 30 he had become one of the worst GK in PL with many embarrassing moments, while Barthez at 35 was still a good GK. We also have to remember that Barthez had a semi retired Blanc, a former left back as a CB, and a young Wes brown. He had his issues but we didn't help him exactly with that defense. It was clear by 2003 that Barthez was not a top top gk anymore. But I don't remember costing us so many games as DDG did just this year.

 

[Idxomer]

Barthez was a better keeper than De Gea, not for United but overall though he still won more PL titles.

 

[Marcelinho87]

Barthez was a better keeper than DDG. He made mistakes, some comical, but DDG makes at least 10 like this per year. He was also able to sweep.

Barthez really was a strange one, he ranged from world class to erratic, was excellent at sweeping though at times.

 

[Pickle85]

Barthez was a better keeper than De Gea, not for United but overall though he still won more PL titles.

No chance. He was wildly inconsistent and not as good with his feet as some like to think. Is It's just remembered that way because playing out in the way that's taken for granted now was just not done in the same way in the PL then. He also had a tendency to overplay when he did try to play out and lose the ball in terrible positions.

 

[3KDré]

Was our xG really higher than City’s?

Yes but you have to account for the penalty which will be close to 1. There were also a few chances City lashed it across the box and if anyone had been there it would have gone in - these will not count.

 

[JB7]

Barthez really was a strange one, he ranged from world class to erratic, was excellent at sweeping though at times.

In fairness De Gea has ranged from world class to erratic without being excellent at sweeping.

 

[Longshanks]

Barthez really was a strange one, he ranged from world class to erratic, was excellent at sweeping though at times.

In many ways similar to De Gea who also ranges from world class to erratic with his shot stopping. Fergie was ruthless with Barthez, rightly so. It's about time we were ruthless with De Gea.

 

[RuudTom83]

DDG's contact must be days away from expiring now?

 

[Sylar]

Having read the responses, it appears DDG has turned into the scapegoat for all of our problems, it was Maguire but as he isnt playing, someone else has to take the mantle because the Caf loves a scapegoat to blame. Also no one is aloud to say anything positive because you just get hounded upon. Reading comments in this thread such as ''worst keeper in the league and has been for years', abomination of a goalkeeper', 'He's shite, really, really properly shite' 'worst player we've had in the last 10 years' and you have to ask yourself, are people who post this gibberish even United fans or just WUMS?

Now I agree that its time for a more modern keeper to suit ETH's style and someone with better aerial ability and surprise surprise, you can still have that view without needing to constantly slag off DDG. 415 appearances for and club and 12 years service.

Of course he has made mistakes and I believe he should have done much better for the second goal against City for example (it's clear everyone was caught cold for the first so no idea how the GK experts in this thread are blaming him for that) but he's kept 17 clean sheets in the league this season where our defence has constantly been changing and that is 3 more than anyone else. But apparently he doesn't have much shot stopping ability so clearly he must have just stood there and the ball hit him each time. It's obvious had another keeper won the Golden Glove, I'm sure some of the posters on here would be celebrating that. Do I think he has deficiencies in this game? Yes I do and that's why I agree a more modern keeper with better passing and aerial ability is required but I'm still of the view he's been a great servant to the club during a time when we have been up and down and through different managers. Also have to laugh at the posters who are posting highlight reels of DDG's conceded goals and analysing them at the same time acting like all other keepers haven't made a mistakes at all.

Then there are the strange folk who equal replacing a GK alongside a striker and feel that has been the reason for our woes this season. We've scored 58 goals this season in the league. That is joint 7th with Brentford. We are 11 behind the next team above - Newcastle and 30 goals behind Arsenal in second and 36 behind City in first. At the same time, he has kept 17 clean sheets. Now of course a more modern GK will improve us but DDG hasn't been the issue for our problems this season, that has been scoring goals and killing games off when on top.

I'm gonna engage you as you don't seem to be trolling, so I'm interested in your thoughts and will address your post .

You say ddg has been turned into a scapegoat but remember this is the ddg thread, if you enter the Rashford, Bruno or even casemiro thread you will see them getting criticised despite what they've offered this season, which has been higher than DDG.

You're allowed to post positive things about ddg, but when it's countered, the response is always agenda, best shot stopper, or other stuff that ignores the counter posts.
So again, be positive, as I'm intrigued to see what the positives are to ddg.

The clean sheets point, this is a flawed point without context. Goalkeepers can get a clean sheet without facing a single shot.
People bring up golden boot saying strikers can't score without the rest of the team too, and sure there's a point, but the big big difference is gks can face 0 shots and get the golden glove, however strikers still need to actually score, which is the hardest part of football.

Also nobody (serious) is saying other gk don't make mistake. Every player makes a mistake, the issue is that ddg makes it In key moments in big games and has done so consistently. This has been listed and evident for years.
Which other keepers have made as many big mistakes that are comparable without being dropped / sold from a big team?

Ddg isn't the issue. This has been stated many times, however he is an issue, one that needs to be addressed.
Your defence of him is fine, but again, it's been vague in terms of ridiculing others and grouping a bunch of statements as one collective.

Ddg is not good enough for a top team and hasn't been for a long time. His appearances and clean sheets is massive, however that says more about united than him, with him benefiting from the number of manager changes

 

[TheGame]

I'm gonna engage you as you don't seem to be trolling, so I'm interested in your thoughts and will address your post .

You say ddg has been turned into a scapegoat but remember this is the ddg thread, if you enter the Rashford, Bruno or even casemiro thread you will see them getting criticised despite what they've offered this season, which has been higher than DDG.

You're allowed to post positive things about ddg, but when it's countered, the response is always agenda, best shot stopper, or other stuff that ignores the counter posts.
So again, be positive, as I'm intrigued to see what the positives are to ddg.

The clean sheets point, this is a flawed point without context. Goalkeepers can get a clean sheet without facing a single shot.
People bring up golden boot saying strikers can't score without the rest of the team too, and sure there's a point, but the big big difference is gks can face 0 shots and get the golden glove, however strikers still need to actually score, which is the hardest part of football.

Also nobody (serious) is saying other gk don't make mistake. Every player makes a mistake, the issue is that ddg makes it In key moments in big games and has done so consistently. This has been listed and evident for years.
Which other keepers have made as many big mistakes that are comparable without being dropped / sold from a big team?

Ddg isn't the issue. This has been stated many times, however he is an issue, one that needs to be addressed.
Your defence of him is fine, but again, it's been vague in terms of ridiculing others and grouping a bunch of statements as one collective.

Ddg is not good enough for a top team and hasn't been for a long time. His appearances and clean sheets is massive, however that says more about united than him, with him benefiting from the number of manager changes

I appreciate this is the DDG thread but I'm going off the comments made and some have been made in other threads as well.

I've seen a few posts where people have shown him some praise but others have shouted them down. I even praised him in another thread only to be told I am the reason the club isn't going to move forward.

Yes I appreciate the GK can get a clean sheet without having to save anything but that hasn't been us this season, we have not scored or increased the lead therefore have struggled to control the game and mostly in every match we have had to deal with shots.

I may be defending his record however as per my post, I have stated that a change is required going forward to suit the modern way of playing. I am also disappointed his flaws haven't been addressed in training or even made an attempt to. The comments have been made by people in this thread from the FA Cup to now, it shows that some comments are ridiculous and are not constructive about the player but just damn right abusive.

You and I share the same view about the issues however there are others who seem to think he is the main issue which is why I wrote what I said. I still believe he's a decent keeper although not the right keeper for us going forward but depending on the transfer funds and the need to improve other areas, he may be here next season. He's given us around 12 years and I believe deserves some respect hence my comments.

 

[arthurka]

Going?

 

[TMDaines]

Too washed even for the Saudis at this stage.

 

[Member 125352]

He also won us a lot of points though, that is how I remember it anyway.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

He also won us a lot of points though, that is how I remember it anyway.

In the Mourinho days yeah, especially that absurd 17-18 season. In recent years no, he’s basically been below average.

As a slight side note: do people think he’s a club legend? And if so why?

 

[sullydnl]

In the Mourinho days yeah, especially that absurd 17-18 season. In recent years no, he’s basically been below average.

As a slight side note: do people think he’s a club legend? And if so why?

Obviously.

Only six players in the entire history of the club have played more for us than De Gea. And within those appearances he was both the fans' and players' POTY in four different seasons, in the PFA team of the year five times and at his peak was widely acclaimed by fans and media as arguably (along with Neuer) the best goalkeeper in the world. Including by pundits like Roy Keane, who you wouldn't think ever held that view if you heard him now. Cursed decade though the 2010s were, if you had to pick a United player of the decade De Gea would be the obvious choice, even with the couple of very poor seasons at the end.

The last five seasons of mediocrity don't (or shouldn't) change the standing he had earned up to that point.

At the moment it's to his reputation's detriment that he continued at United beyond the 17/18 season you mention, when the esteem he was held in was at its peak. But hopefully once he leaves and stops hindering the team in the present, focus will shift back to those pre World Cup 2018 years. Because really this shouldn't even be a question.

 

[croadyman]

In the Mourinho days yeah, especially that absurd 17-18 season. In recent years no, he’s basically been below average.

As a slight side note: do people think he’s a club legend? And if so why?

Great servant but not club legend for me

 

[croadyman]

He also won us a lot of points though, that is how I remember it anyway.

Yeah but also cost us many big games in last few years. He definitely hasn't been the same since 2018 World Cup

 

[Telsim]

Maybe the Saudi can help us?

 

[Cloud7]

In the Mourinho days yeah, especially that absurd 17-18 season. In recent years no, he’s basically been below average.

As a slight side note: do people think he’s a club legend? And if so why?

He's been a good Servant to the club, but a legend, I can't say that, because we've not been good enough during most of his time at the club. Of course that's down to a lot of factors unrelated to him, but it's hard for me to call someone a legend at Manchester United if the club isn't getting up to much during most of their time here. Though of course he may be a legend to some, but then the term 'legend' is very subjective and everyone weighs it up differently

 

[GueRed]

Barthez was a better keeper than De Gea, not for United but overall though he still won more PL titles.

Barthez was brilliant in his first season. The slaphead was a fan favourite!

The second season unfortunately he continuously made calamity mistake after mistake after mistake. And although he stayed at the club for another year or two he never really recovered from them.

 

[CantonaManc]

David de Gea is ready to snub a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia to stay at #mufc. via [@alex_crook]

David de Gea is among a growing number of stars being targeted by Saudi Arabia. But De Gea is committed to spending at least the next two seasons at Manchester United. #MUFC via [@talkSPORT]



Personally, I would buy him the ticket to Saudi Arabia !

 

[pcaming]

David de Gea is ready to snub a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia to stay at #mufc. via [@alex_crook]

David de Gea is among a growing number of stars being targeted by Saudi Arabia. But De Gea is committed to spending at least the next two seasons at Manchester United. #MUFC via [@talkSPORT]



Personally, I would buy him the ticket to Saudi Arabia !

Our players can't even be mercenaries properly. All they excel at is disappointment.

 

[NLunited]

I appreciate this is the DDG thread but I'm going off the comments made and some have been made in other threads as well.

I've seen a few posts where people have shown him some praise but others have shouted them down. I even praised him in another thread only to be told I am the reason the club isn't going to move forward.

Yes I appreciate the GK can get a clean sheet without having to save anything but that hasn't been us this season, we have not scored or increased the lead therefore have struggled to control the game and mostly in every match we have had to deal with shots.

I may be defending his record however as per my post, I have stated that a change is required going forward to suit the modern way of playing. I am also disappointed his flaws haven't been addressed in training or even made an attempt to. The comments have been made by people in this thread from the FA Cup to now, it shows that some comments are ridiculous and are not constructive about the player but just damn right abusive.

You and I share the same view about the issues however there are others who seem to think he is the main issue which is why I wrote what I said. I still believe he's a decent keeper although not the right keeper for us going forward but depending on the transfer funds and the need to improve other areas, he may be here next season. He's given us around 12 years and I believe deserves some respect hence my comments.

Completely agree, the criticism has been over the top and as you say, abusive.

Among the ridiculous things I‘ve read in this thread, is that we are not scoring goals because of DeGea.

Or the clean sheets: these are because of our awesome defense, not DeGea, according to the geniuses populating this thread. We have had more than eight different cb pairings this season.

A golden glove winner cannot be the main issue. There is a good chance he stays until we sort out other areas.

 

[Remember the geese]

Among the ridiculous things I‘ve read in this thread, is that we are not scoring goals because of DeGea.

This is true though in part. With a more proactive keeper who is also better in possession, we as a team will have more control/possession. With greater control and possession, you would assume that would lead to more chances being created and effectively, more goals.

 

[NLunited]

This is true though in part. With a more proactive keeper who is also better in possession, we as a team will have more control/possession. With greater control and possession, you would assume that would lead to more chances being created and effectively, more goals.

It requires upgrades in midfield, a top striker and another cb.

DeGea is a part of it, but not huge.

 

[MadDogg]

No he isn‘t as good as either of those, but we ain‘t getting someone that good probably this summer. So what‘s the point?

We can't get Haaland or Mbappe or someone that good, so what's the point of upgrading Martial?

 

[NLunited]

We can't get Haaland or Mbappe or someone that good, so what's the point of upgrading Martial?

Upgrading Martial should not be an issue. He cannot stay fit and his workrate is low.

Upgrading DeGea is harder. Diogo Costa costs 60/70 million or so, or we could get Onana. We aren‘t upgrading for 20 million unless we get lucky with a young gk.

 

[Remember the geese]

It requires upgrades in midfield, a top striker and another cb.

DeGea is a part of it, but not huge.

Yes, of course. De Gea contributes indirectly to us not scoring enough goals, but that's only one of the ways in which he adversely affects the team.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

He's been a good Servant to the club, but a legend, I can't say that, because we've not been good enough during most of his time at the club. Of course that's down to a lot of factors unrelated to him, but it's hard for me to call someone a legend at Manchester United if the club isn't getting up to much during most of their time here. Though of course he may be a legend to some, but then the term 'legend' is very subjective and everyone weighs it up differently

Yep agreed, not a legend.

 

[MadDogg]

This is an absolutely appalling take, whatever you think of DDG now.

De Gea over the course of his time here was obviously better for us, but I'd gladly take Barthez' three seasons with us over De Gea's last five years. Barthez's first season was clearly, massively better than any of those years from De Gea, and while he dropped off and made too many mistakes in the following seasons we're seeing De Gea do exactly the same. They both made great saves followed by stupid mistakes. Barthez at least bought superior ability on the ball.

 

[MadDogg]

Only six players in the entire history of the club have played more for us than De Gea. And within those appearances he was both the fans' and players' POTY in four different seasons, in the PFA team of the year five times and at his peak was widely acclaimed by fans and media as arguably (along with Neuer) the best goalkeeper in the world.

There was only one season he might have been the best in the world, and that was because Neuer had a poor season where he was struggling with injuries IIRC. Otherwise Neuer was always clearly #1 by quite some distance. That doesn't really take away from De Gea too much as Neuer will go down as arguably the greatest of all time, but we also shouldn't think that De Gea was up there with him.

 

[Red in STL]

Yes, a gk who the WC, the Euro, reached another WC final is worse than the guy who chokes at the sight of a title. DDG's peak was better than Barthez. But I m comparing their overall career.

OK, so David May has a CL winners medal, therefore he must be currently better then all City's CB's, yeah right

There was only one season he might have been the best in the world, and that was because Neuer had a poor season where he was struggling with injuries IIRC. Otherwise Neuer was always clearly #1 by quite some distance. That doesn't really take away from De Gea too much as Neuer will go down as arguably the greatest of all time, but we also shouldn't think that De Gea was up there with him.

I suspect Gordon Banks and Lev Yashin might have something to say about the goalkeeper GOAT

 

[MadDogg]

Upgrading Martial should not be an issue. He cannot stay fit and his workrate is low.

Upgrading DeGea is harder. Diogo Costa costs 60/70 million or so, or we could get Onana. We aren‘t upgrading for 20 million unless we get lucky with a young gk.

De Gea is barely any harder to upgrade than Martial. In fact it's only the injuries that make it more difficult at all. This idea that we have to spend huge money to do so is laughable.

De Gea is a keeper whose shot-stopping alternates between great and poor (and the bigger the occasion the more likely it seems to be poor), is very poor at sweeping and distribution and is literally the worst in the league when it comes to dealing with crosses and aerial balls. Other than Spurs, every other PL team in the top half have a keeper that they wouldn't even consider swapping for De Gea. Hell, he's available for free now and there hasn't been any expression of interest by any team in Europe. Why do people think he'll be so difficult to replace?

A keeper who is a decent shot-stopper, while only being better than De Gea (ie. a very low bar) at claiming crosses, sweeping, distribution and communicating with his defence. How much do you think that would cost? He literally doesn't have to be 'great' at a single aspect of his game, all it takes is someone who is decent at everything (or even most things) and it is a clear upgrade. Ideally we'd get somebody better than that as well, but at worst we should be looking to go cheap for a short-term improvement then go bigger in a year or two.

Nick Pope is an easy example. He's been comfortably better than De Gea for a few years now and was available for only £10m a year ago. The only question on him was a couple of poor performances for England raising the possibility of him struggling with pressure, but considering De Gea has been quite consistently costing us in the bigger games anyway then what was the difference? Newcastle took the chance and unsurprisingly to just about everyone he was once again far better than De Gea this season. Long term he wouldn't have been the answer since his distribution isn't good enough, but he's literally better than De Gea is every single aspect and would have been a great short-term signing to tide us over until we decide who we want for the long-term. Someone like David Raya is in a similar position now - may not be good enough to be our long-term option there, but in the short-term he'd almost certainly be an improvement that we can pick up fairly cheap.

 

[MadDogg]

I suspect Gordon Banks and Lev Yashin might have something to say about the goalkeeper GOAT

Of course, but Neuer is up there. Basically combined the best of Schmeichel with the sweeping and distribution of Alisson.

 

[NLunited]

De Gea is barely any harder to upgrade than Martial. In fact it's only the injuries that make it more difficult at all. This idea that we have to spend huge money to do so is laughable.

De Gea is a keeper whose shot-stopping alternates between great and poor (and the bigger the occasion the more likely it seems to be poor), is very poor at sweeping and distribution and is literally the worst in the league when it comes to dealing with crosses and aerial balls. Other than Spurs, every other PL team in the top half have a keeper that they wouldn't even consider swapping for De Gea. Hell, he's available for free now and there hasn't been any expression of interest by any team in Europe. Why do people think he'll be so difficult to replace?

A keeper who is a decent shot-stopper, while only being better than De Gea (ie. a very low bar) at claiming crosses, sweeping, distribution and communicating with his defence. How much do you think that would cost? He literally doesn't have to be 'great' at a single aspect of his game, all it takes is someone who is decent at everything (or even most things) and it is a clear upgrade. Ideally we'd get somebody better than that as well, but at worst we should be looking to go cheap for a short-term improvement then go bigger in a year or two.

Nick Pope is an easy example. He's been comfortably better than De Gea for a few years now and was available for only £10m a year ago. The only question on him was a couple of poor performances for England raising the possibility of him struggling with pressure, but considering De Gea has been quite consistently costing us in the bigger games anyway then what was the difference? Newcastle took the chance and unsurprisingly to just about everyone he was once again far better than De Gea this season. Long term he wouldn't have been the answer since his distribution isn't good enough, but he's literally better than De Gea is every single aspect and would have been a great short-term signing to tide us over until we decide who we want for the long-term. Someone like David Raya is in a similar position now - may not be good enough to be our long-term option there, but in the short-term he'd almost certainly be an improvement that we can pick up fairly cheap.

The options you mention aren‘t good enough and not cheap. If we get one of those guys, they‘ll be the new scapegoat in no time.

We need a top gk, not Raya or Pope.

 

[RedMistyDevil]

I appreciate this is the DDG thread but I'm going off the comments made and some have been made in other threads as well.

I've seen a few posts where people have shown him some praise but others have shouted them down. I even praised him in another thread only to be told I am the reason the club isn't going to move forward.

Yes I appreciate the GK can get a clean sheet without having to save anything but that hasn't been us this season, we have not scored or increased the lead therefore have struggled to control the game and mostly in every match we have had to deal with shots.

I may be defending his record however as per my post, I have stated that a change is required going forward to suit the modern way of playing. I am also disappointed his flaws haven't been addressed in training or even made an attempt to. The comments have been made by people in this thread from the FA Cup to now, it shows that some comments are ridiculous and are not constructive about the player but just damn right abusive.

You and I share the same view about the issues however there are others who seem to think he is the main issue which is why I wrote what I said. I still believe he's a decent keeper although not the right keeper for us going forward but depending on the transfer funds and the need to improve other areas, he may be here next season. He's given us around 12 years and I believe deserves some respect hence my comments.

I've sometimes avoided posting here because the temperature of discussion is just too high, but I get it, we're passionate fans and we love United. Still, not a reason to be abusive towards the players like you have correctly pointed out. Some study in 2022 did find that United players were the most abused on Twitter.

He is one of my favorite players at the club (from his good performances pre World Cup 2018), but he's regressed since. van Gaal and his coaches were the ones to improve De Gea the most, but since his departure, we have that 17/18 season and then it was all downhill from there.

The De Gea we saw this season is a typical De Gea post World Cup 2018. Some good saves, saved us some points, got us to the next round of the FA Cup, but included with that were mistakes, some drubbings, and cost us the UEL progression. He lacks the consistency he had from his absolute peak, and it's a shame he had his peak post Sir Alex and during some of the most turbulent times at the club. I'm sure Sir Alex would've made more effort to address his flaws in training, brought in someone to challenge for the #1 spot sooner, and either motivated him properly post WC, or moved him on back in 2019 when he got the massive contract.

If he stayed on a reduced wage and we brought in someone to challenge him, I'm not going to complain too much, because we definitely need a good striker and a good midfield (with depth). Now, if we can offload some of our players (for decent value, I pray for miracles) and be able to afford someone to replace De Gea (there is always a United transfer tax), I'm fine with that too.

 

[MadDogg]

The options you mention aren‘t good enough and not cheap. If we get one of those guys, they‘ll be the new scapegoat in no time.

We need a top gk, not Raya or Pope.

Why? Do you feel we need to keep every player in the current team except those we can upgrade to one of the absolute best players out there? Do we just stick with our current midfield unless we can sign De Jong? Keep our current strike-force unless we can sign Kane/Osimhen? If so it's going to take a very long time to actually improve the team since we'll only be able to afford one or two players a season. Or do you recognise that with any half-decent scouting and decision making we can improve aspects of our team quite easily for fairly cheap, allowing us to upgrade more positions at a time while still going big where it's most needed?

Also obviously we're not going to get Pope now that he's already at Newcastle. He was cheap, and he was an obvious upgrade that we missed out on. Raya most likely will be fairly cheap now, and while I recognise there is a chance that he fails badly and is worse than De Gea, I also recognise that chance is smaller than the likelihood of him being a decent improvement. Quite likely not the final improvement that we'd ideally want, but somebody who can tide us over in the meantime who is more suited (albeit still not perfect) to how our manager wants us to play. And while we'd have to pay a transfer fee for him, we'd probably save a good 5m on wages every year compared to where De Gea would be (13m a year compared to where De Gea currently is).

We don't NEED the best in the world in every position. We need decent players who are suited to the way ETH wants to play both in terms of attributes and mentality, and hopefully who can be coached to step up further. De Gea fails in all of that.

 

[crossy1686]

Is he hoping the Saudi's make an 11th hour offer? I hope they do, surely they want an ex United player? Think of the headlines lads! Get it done.

 

[Oranges038]

The options you mention aren‘t good enough and not cheap. If we get one of those guys, they‘ll be the new scapegoat in no time.

We need a top gk, not Raya or Pope.

Why does it have to be top keeper? DDG is not even close to being a top keeper. It just has to be someone better.

Both are better at everything than the current version of DDG we get every week. Pope was one the top sweeper keepers playing for Burnley and conceded less goals for a relegated side than DDG dig for Utd last season. Has become a crucial part of Newcastle's mean defence. Raya is one of the best performing keepers in the league playing for Brentford.

If they could replicate 75% of what they currently do for Utd they'll still be better than DDG at everything.

 

[crossy1686]

Why does it have to be top keeper? DDG is not even close to being a top keeper. It just has to be someone better.

Both are better at everything than the current version of DDG we get every week. Pope was one the top sweeper keepers playing for Burnley and conceded less goals for a relegated side than DDG dig for Utd last season. Has become a crucial part of Newcastle's mean defence. Raya is one of the best performing keepers in the league playing for Brentford.

If they could replicate 75% of what they currently do for Utd they'll still be better than DDG at everything.

City did it with Claudio Bravo for a season when they wanted to get rid of Hart, Liverpool did it with Karius when they wanted to change their style of play, and there's no reason why we can't do the same. Find our next number 2, sign him this summer, give him the season and then go all in for our number 1 next summer.