I'll just give him a call, hang on.
No it was mentioned on twitter by one of the more reliable ITK's.. KarlsenTK maybe, can't remember
David De Gea (SAF confirmed signing!)
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I'll just give him a call, hang on.
No it was mentioned on twitter by one of the more reliable ITK's.. KarlsenTK maybe, can't remember
I like it
I just hope he has the mentality to make it here. To be that young and under such enormous pressure, not to mention having a transfer fee over 20m hanging over his head, he'll need to be even stronger mentally than he is skilled as a keeper. Probably the biggest risk of any of the lot, but also potentially the biggest reward.
Just cant see it myself, obviously he is a great talent.
But we would be left without an experienced keeper?! Lindegaard, Amos and De Gea is very very risky imo.
But we would be left without an experienced keeper?! Lindegaard, Amos and De Gea is very very risky imo.
Sheasy!
He's too young.
Neuer please. Thanks SAF.
Neuer please. Thanks SAF.
Anyone else think that we're overpaying for this guy?
I know he has got excellent potential for all, but 20 Mil Euros for a young goalkeeper is too much IMO.
I know he has got excellent potential for all, but 20 Mil Euros for a young goalkeeper is too much IMO.
If we were paying 20m for the most highly rated young striker on the planet then people would be saying it's an absolute bargain.
A keeper has a bigger influence in any given season than a striker (if a striker doesn't score, someone else might but a keeper is all on his own when it comes to keeping them out) so should be valued accordingly.
I've never understood the logic in not spending whatever it takes to sign the very best keeper available. Fergie's achilles heel IMO
Same.
Maybe I'm slightly biased, being a keeper myself, but I've never understood the logic that a top stiker will set you back £20 mil +, yet paying over £10/15 mil + for a keeper is seen as overpaying.
Thing is, I think Taibi was English record fee, and Barthez was world record fee at the time. Yeah, Bosnich was the first we got and he was on a free, but we did spend good money after that trying to solve the problem, and still didn't manage to.
Having said that, I don't mind spending 20m on De Gea is our staff has agreed he's a top talent and can handle things. If you get it right, it's peanuts. No different to getting Ronaldo or Rooney for the fees we did at the time. The sort that made them pretty expensive (especially Rooney) if it didn't work out, but rather laughable if they are successful.
20 mil euro is pretty much okay considering today's market and the hyped up fees. As Pogue said goal keeper is a pretty important position and we don't have another carroll,Taibi, Barthez sort of thing.Besides Lindegaard has looked very promising.
Yea I've always thought this, keepers are undervalued for some reason.
£20m is a lot, and a risk on someone so inexperienced, but if he's as good as reputed and he fulfils his apparent potential then our no.1 shirt could be filled for over 10 years, in which case it'll look like a right bargain.
who is the best keeper at the minute tho?
the so called current best goalkeepers in the world (cesar/casillas/reina/buffon/akineev/lloris etc..) have all been far from convincing
i honestly think Van Der Sar has been the best goalkeeper i've seen this season
1 mistake against West Brom - possibly could have done better against suarez free kick at anfield and they are the only 2 mistakes I can think of
i agree its been achilles heel at times but its also been a strength as he has brought the best goalkeeper i've ever seen in my life (schmeichal) to united and Van Der Sar isn't much different
we did struggle a bit with the others and he knows he should have brought VDS in earlier - i like the look of de gea tho - he's got the right frame and looks very athletic - his judgement looks good for his age as well
20 million euro would be peanuts if this guy was our goalkeeper for the next 15 years
its hard tho as given the form of the worlds so called best i think buying a goalkeeper is like a lottery sometimes
All fair points.
I'm not against the idea of spending 20Mil Euros on an experienced keeper, but DDG is only in his second season and therefore it'll be a risk to spend all this money on him. However we obviously are interested in him, and our scouting team must have seen something extraordinary in him to make us spend that kind of money for him.
Spot on.
It would be an interesting deal. On the one hand you have his age which, let's be honest, is an incredible opportunity for us. Even if he did four good years for us and wanted to leave we'd be selling him before his peak years and so his price could potentially be enormous. On the other hand, if we bought him and he became one of those players that settles at the club then we might have tied down our first choice keeper for a ridiculous number of years.
BUT, he is young and he does lack the experience that playing a few hundred games gives you, so there's an inherent risk, though his fast-tracking into the Madrid team would suggest he may well be up to the task.
It's fairly simple to me: if we think he's going to be on VdS's level then paying that sort of money shouldn't phase us as he'd be a sound investment. If there are doubts about either his ability or his temperament then it might not be the worst idea to leave him there and see how he develops, and choose either a slightly more short term option.
BUT, he is young and he does lack the experience that playing a few hundred games gives you, so there's an inherent risk, though his fast-tracking into the Madrid team would suggest he may well be up to the task.
It's fairly simple to me: if we think he's going to be on VdS's level then paying that sort of money shouldn't phase us as he'd be a sound investment. If there are doubts about either his ability or his temperament then it might not be the worst idea to leave him there and see how he develops, and choose either a slightly more short term option.
30m for Buffon back in the day was thought to me madness. There he is, still there 10 years later with the reputation with being one of the best, if not the best, during his entire stint there. Money well spent I say.
Not just fergies Achilles heel. Agree completely though, and to add - a goalie will typically be there for longer than an outfield player (unless they are a complete flop) and have longer careers, so the cost is spread out over a longer period anyway - take VDS as an example. If de gea were to last that long it would be nearly 20 years of service. Even if it were £30m, that would be an absolute bargain, and still less than what we spent on berbatov
I still don't get this. Clough went out and paid a lot of money for Shilton, who was the basis of Forest's success for years. George Graham spent a record fee on Seaman despite having a good keeper. It's very difficult to win things without a top keeper.
I don't get this lack of experience bit, he is a player who has played in 2 of Europe's biggest games and played admirably in each (Europa League final and European super cup, the latter he was incredible in btw.)
He has more experience at club level than the vast majority of his rivals for this spot, to a degree even Pepe Reina.
What has age got to do with anything? Quality > age, or if your good enough your old enough.
That's ignoring that Neuer is as good as a Bayern player already.
Well, apart from the last 3 years or so, when his knee's have been as bad if not worse than Owen Hargreaves'.
If you're going to play the others can score too card then you have also give credit to a defense for helping a keeper see fewer shots, and other times a defender saves the keeper's ass.
If he really makes it and fulfills his potential, 20m is nothing considering he is staying for like 10 or 14 years at United
3 Emirates Cups in 4 years suggest otherwise.
Can't say I'm excited about this. He pulls out some amazing saves and is obviously impressive given his age, but he also has a fairly long track record of making big blunders. He seems to make an odd mistake in about once every second match I watch with A. Madrid.
Then again, I can't think of a rock solid goalkeeper available at the moment.
I just fear De Gea will cost us quite a bit of points in the first couple of years, if we were to go with him as first choice. Happy to be proven wrong though.
Then again, I can't think of a rock solid goalkeeper available at the moment.
I just fear De Gea will cost us quite a bit of points in the first couple of years, if we were to go with him as first choice. Happy to be proven wrong though.
If De Gea is to be the keeper that we spend 20m for then I don't understand the purchase of Lindengaard. I find it hard to believe he was bought to be a #2 keeper. At 26 - he is probably looking to be a #2 for a a year or two gaining experience and then hoping to do enough to be seen as #1.
I don't think keeper is one position that SAF would rotate either, so it won't be a keeping by committee either.
Just not sure if SAF will go for him due to the previous situation in replacing Schmeichel, I think he'll lean towards a more experienced keeper. Even if De Gea is quality - the general feeling is keepers don't mature till a lot later, so will be a concern.
20m though for a keeper his age/quality is really nothing. Either over a very long period as our #1 would balance out or if he gets sold on in 4-5 years for equal higher amount, we'd still come out on top. But, that's assuming he comes in as our #1. Unlike other big signings, I think the other benefit is even if he doesn't cut it at United - there will teams that will buy him in Spain or elsewhere for close to what we pay for him.
I don't think keeper is one position that SAF would rotate either, so it won't be a keeping by committee either.
Just not sure if SAF will go for him due to the previous situation in replacing Schmeichel, I think he'll lean towards a more experienced keeper. Even if De Gea is quality - the general feeling is keepers don't mature till a lot later, so will be a concern.
20m though for a keeper his age/quality is really nothing. Either over a very long period as our #1 would balance out or if he gets sold on in 4-5 years for equal higher amount, we'd still come out on top. But, that's assuming he comes in as our #1. Unlike other big signings, I think the other benefit is even if he doesn't cut it at United - there will teams that will buy him in Spain or elsewhere for close to what we pay for him.
It's just one of those situations where you have to trust that the scouts have done a hell of a lot of homework, done personality and background checks, looked at whether they'll take to having to do more commanding than shot stopping, have the big game mentality, etc. I think all of those things are hard for us mere fans to quantify, but the club has the resources, contacts, know-how and time to check into it all. They've surely been preparing for this transition for years now, if De Gea is the one they go for then they must be pretty sure, given the price. If being the important word.
Is Buffon's contract running out this summer? I think getting him on a free transfer would be a very nice gamble to take. I know he gets injured but if he is fit, he is still good.
Regarding the buyout clause: Atletico's claims about bids for Sergio Aguero don't ring true - Sid Lowe - SI.com
This was about Agüero to Chelsea, but can be applied here nevertheless.
This was about Agüero to Chelsea, but can be applied here nevertheless.
For those fretting about the fee, don't panic. Goalkeeper is the most under-rated and under-valued position on the football pitch. As others have mentioned, if this was one of the highest rated young strikers on the planet, we wouldn't blink twice at the fee. The goalkeeper is so important - think of how many points VDS has earned us this season. I can say with confidence that without him, we would not be top of the table right now.
It's worth spending decent money on a keeper, particularly one as talented as De Gea. Provided we're prepared to give him time, he'll develop into one of the world's best, have no doubt of that.
It's worth spending decent money on a keeper, particularly one as talented as De Gea. Provided we're prepared to give him time, he'll develop into one of the world's best, have no doubt of that.
Signing a top-quality keeper is just as important as signing a 20 goal a season striker. We need to spend the money to bring in a world class replacement, whether that is de Gea or Neuer.
Someone should probably tell De Gea's agent.
Defenders can cover for each other though. The keeper is, literally, the last line of defence.
Anyway, look how much Chelsea spent on Luiz. Already looking like money well spent too.
We'll probably win the PL this year but we've still made it unnecessarily difficult.
It's psychological as well. There's nothing as dispiriting as playing your bollocks off and the keeper throwing one in. Irrational maybe, but centreforward misses an open goal or centrehalf makes a cock up and gifts one, it just isn't so undermining.
how does De Gea compare to Joe Hart?
Better? Worse? or the same amount of talent?
Better? Worse? or the same amount of talent?
De Gea has actually won something. Well, two things.
I could say the same thing about the treble we'll probably win.
I'd say better at the point he is now. Seen more of De Gea though. At age 20 Hart had played in League 2 a lot and a little bit in League 1.
There's also something about him now that I don't like. It's weird. He looks lazy to me but he's a goalkeeper. Don't know how he pulls it off. Maybe its because he looks so bad running out in 1vs1 situations. Not talking much.
David De Gea's representatives have confirmed that they have already had contact with Manchester United.
United are considering their options for next season in the goalkeeping department with current number one Edwin van der Sar set to retire at the end of the campaign.
Sir Alex Ferguson has dispatched his scouts and goalkeeping coach Eric Steele around the world looking at possible successors to Van der Sar.
In recent months they are known to have watched Manuel Neuer, Maarten Stekelenburg, Rene Adler and De Gea, while also being linked with a number of others.
Recent reports have suggested that United have already lodged an offer for De Gea, and although this has been played down by Atletico, his agent has admitted that contact has been made.
"Well, we did have talks with Manchester United but, first of all, they always look for an agreement with the club," Hector Rincon confirmed.
"Anyway, most of the biggest European teams have shown interest in David de Gea."
Rincon insists he does not know whether Atletico would even be willing to sell.
"What I can tell you is that his release clause now is €20million, but I have no idea if the club would sell him for less.
"Right now, the player has a contract with Atletico Madrid and if Manchester United or any other team want him they will have to reach an agreement or pay the whole release clause."
Rincon also revealed that earlier in his career De Gea was wanted by Wigan, while also reaffirming that other Premier League clubs are in the hunt for his signature.
"Some time ago, before he became an important player in Atletico, Wigan made an offer, but the club rejected it.
"Recently, I don't want to say any names but all the big clubs in England and in Europe have asked about him," he told Sport.co.uk..
De Gea contact confirmed | Manchester United News, Fixtures, Results, Transfers | Sky Sports
United are considering their options for next season in the goalkeeping department with current number one Edwin van der Sar set to retire at the end of the campaign.
Sir Alex Ferguson has dispatched his scouts and goalkeeping coach Eric Steele around the world looking at possible successors to Van der Sar.
In recent months they are known to have watched Manuel Neuer, Maarten Stekelenburg, Rene Adler and De Gea, while also being linked with a number of others.
Recent reports have suggested that United have already lodged an offer for De Gea, and although this has been played down by Atletico, his agent has admitted that contact has been made.
"Well, we did have talks with Manchester United but, first of all, they always look for an agreement with the club," Hector Rincon confirmed.
"Anyway, most of the biggest European teams have shown interest in David de Gea."
Rincon insists he does not know whether Atletico would even be willing to sell.
"What I can tell you is that his release clause now is €20million, but I have no idea if the club would sell him for less.
"Right now, the player has a contract with Atletico Madrid and if Manchester United or any other team want him they will have to reach an agreement or pay the whole release clause."
Rincon also revealed that earlier in his career De Gea was wanted by Wigan, while also reaffirming that other Premier League clubs are in the hunt for his signature.
"Some time ago, before he became an important player in Atletico, Wigan made an offer, but the club rejected it.
"Recently, I don't want to say any names but all the big clubs in England and in Europe have asked about him," he told Sport.co.uk..
De Gea contact confirmed | Manchester United News, Fixtures, Results, Transfers | Sky Sports
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