De Gea | Signs for Fiorentina

Redplane said:
We have some odd sagas tied to this club. Really don't understand why he isn't somewhere yet. Should be plenty of clubs out there whom would want him. Maybe not perennial top clubs paying top dollar but surely anything high mid tier you would think. Makes ya wonder if there is something else at play.
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Maybe his demands are too high?
 
Redplane said:
We have some odd sagas tied to this club. Really don't understand why he isn't somewhere yet. Should be plenty of clubs out there whom would want him. Maybe not perennial top clubs paying top dollar but surely anything high mid tier you would think. Makes ya wonder if there is something else at play.
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There is nothing strange at play.

He is an obscenely rich man who values his service at a higher price than those looking to hire. Whether he's right or wrong is irrelevant as he is richer than Scrooge McDuck and seems moderately okay with not being on anyone's books.
 
He’s not good enough for those who can pay him and too expensive for the rest.
 
Would have thought he would have joined a Saudi club last year. Not sure if it’s him not wanting to go there, or the clubs no wanting him
 
OverratedOpinion said:
There is nothing strange at play.

He is an obscenely rich man who values his service at a higher price than those looking to hire. Whether he's right or wrong is irrelevant as he is richer than Scrooge McDuck and seems moderately okay with not being on anyone's books.
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Theonas said:
He’s not good enough for those who can pay him and too expensive for the rest.
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It really is as simple as this.
 
He gets my respect if he'd rather retire than to join SA league. Because I'm sure they can pay him if he's open to that.
 
Kepa and De Gea both have the same problem, they are narrow-framed and get pushed around at corners and set pieces. De Gea improved on it but when he first joined United it was obvious how weak his upper body was.

I don't get why Chelsea bought Kepa for crazy money after seeing DDG. Spain produce many top talents but the GK position isn't their strength. Even the top 3 clubs prefer to sign Ter Stegen, Courtois, Oblak because they know Spanish GKs get pushed around easily due to their diminutive size and hesitate more when required to come out to claim floaty crosses. The GK is the main weakness in most Spanish teams, even Casillas was diminutive. Despite this Spain win a lot internationally because it's not a fatal flaw.
 
Redplane said:
We have some odd sagas tied to this club. Really don't understand why he isn't somewhere yet. Should be plenty of clubs out there whom would want him. Maybe not perennial top clubs paying top dollar but surely anything high mid tier you would think. Makes ya wonder if there is something else at play.
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He was poor at set-pieces, his command of his area was non-existent, he was frightened of his own shadow, his distribution was absolutely shocking, he's fragile and weak for a goalkeeper...and his shot-stopping prowess fell away to the point whereby it was merely mediocre, with regular clangers thrown in for good measure.

What makes you think a mid-tier club would want a goalkeeper like that? If I was Fulham manager or West Ham manager etc...I'd be saying 'absolutely not'.
 
OverratedOpinion said:
There is nothing strange at play.

He is an obscenely rich man who values his service at a higher price than those looking to hire. Whether he's right or wrong is irrelevant as he is richer than Scrooge McDuck and seems moderately okay with not being on anyone's books.
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That's a fair assessment. It still looks strange that he does not seem to want to play football, even at lower wages. It's not like being a GK at the age of 33 is demanding physically.

Seems like he decided to have a "gap year" and now is thinking about what to do next, but I can't see him playing again now, football world probably has forgotten about him already. Interesting how was he rated outside of United. I was surprised that even as a free agent he did not sign with anyone.
 
Theonas said:
He’s not good enough for those who can pay him and too expensive for the rest.
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But the only person making himself ‘too expensive’ is himself, so that’s hardly an intractable problem. He just needs to be realistic
 
If I was a multi millionaire, with a multi millionaire Pop star wife and a young kid, I'd probably sit at home all day as well.
 
tenpoless said:
He gets my respect if he'd rather retire than to join SA league. Because I'm sure they can pay him if he's open to that.
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Definitely.

Honestly, this is the dream. To reach a point where you are rich enough to be picky about projects. He doesn't want to play just for the sake of playing, but his integrity can't be bought either it seems.
 
Borys said:
That's a fair assessment. It still looks strange that he does not seem to want to play football, even at lower wages. It's not like being a GK at the age of 33 is demanding physically.

Seems like he decided to have a "gap year" and now is thinking about what to do next, but I can't see him playing again now, football world probably has forgotten about him already. Interesting how was he rated outside of United. I was surprised that even as a free agent he did not sign with anyone.
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Some athletes don’t even like the sport they participate in, they just do it because they are great at it and it’s a good source of income. Once they have an opportunity to finish and live a sustainable life afterwards, they might jump at that chance. We just presume they want to carry on, but it’s like any other profession, you don’t necessarily have to be in love with it to be good at it.
 
I used to support him, even in the last few years when he wasn't performing well. But his decision to be unemployed after we released him for free reflects his poor mentality. Even if he is willing to lower his wages now, I don't think no club wants to sign a player who has been on hiatus for a year.
 
I think he has business ventures here and spends more time in Madrid with his popstar wife and young daughter and travel to where her pop career demands. Even if he was playing at a Madrid club before, he would've been let go by now, his wife and kid are based there so his options are limited at his age. It's best for him to be with his wife and 3-4 year old daughter and travel freely, perhaps her career takes precedent now, if he can't find a club in certain parts of Spain then there is no point in getting bogged down fulltime elsewhere just for the sake of playing. His wife and daughter aren't following him to US, SA, Turkey or wherever else, his daughter's arrival has sort of coincided with his United departure.

It's more timing, his football career has wound down, his wife's career has taken off so she won't be moving anywhere, he got married last year and their ~3 year old daughter is what matters, he was paid a huge wage at United.

Who knows in a few years, maybe if his wife's career changes, his daughter is older and switches school they could look into a move as a family in say Portugal or further out in Spain or Italy if he has a hunger to play again.
 
I was never under the illusion he was going to come back here, regardless of how much of a dud I think Onana is. DDG's time has passed and it was the right time to move on from him.

I'm just disappointed he hasn't signed for another club so we could at least get to see the highlights of his spectacular saves. Call it the old goalkeepers disease or whatever but I'm one of those weirdos who gets as much if not more pleasure from seeing an amazing save as I do an amazing goal. When you see DDG's highlights from his time here some of the saves he made are unbelievable, he'd almost defy gravity and what you expect of human reflexes.

It's a pity his drop off was so sudden and he started making so many odd mistakes but he was still capable of the sublime at times right up to the end.
 
I find it astonishing that absolutely nobody was/is willing to take a punt on De Gea..
 
It has to be a hunger issue surely

He's a year younger now than Van Der Sar was when we signed him from Fulham. And look at what he went on to achieve here!

Still plenty in the tank for De Gea if he has the desire for it. Could have done last season and this season at a club like... well, Fulham... before moving on. Worked for Eriksen at Brentford too. Not sure how not playing helps him.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
It has to be a hunger issue surely

He's a year younger now than Van Der Sar was when we signed him from Fulham. And look at what he went on to achieve here!

Still plenty in the tank for De Gea if he has the desire for it
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I kinda get it. He's mega rich so why uproot (or move away from) family just to play in a non-competitive team for the next few years.

If I'm him I'd maybe try out a different country just for the experience but if he's got young kids and other interests outside of football, fair play to the guy.
 
David De Gea said:
I was never under the illusion he was going to come back here, regardless of how much of a dud I think Onana is. DDG's time has passed and it was the right time to move on from him.

I'm just disappointed he hasn't signed for another club so we could at least get to see the highlights of his spectacular saves. Call it the old goalkeepers disease or whatever but I'm one of those weirdos who gets as much if not more pleasure from seeing an amazing save as I do an amazing goal. When you see DDG's highlights from his time here some of the saves he made are unbelievable, he'd almost defy gravity and what you expect of human reflexes.

It's a pity his drop off was so sudden and he started making so many odd mistakes but he was still capable of the sublime at times right up to the end.
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Well look who it is.
 
duffer said:
I kinda get it. He's mega rich so why uproot (or move away from) family just to play in a non-competitive team for the next few years.

If I'm him I'd maybe try out a different country just for the experience but if he's got young kids and other interests outside of football, fair play to the guy.
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To each their own and if that's his mindset then who am I to say anything. He's done enough to never work again for the rest of his life and has a Premier League winners medal in his pants

But he was the best GK in the World at one point and is still young enough and talented enough to win more. 6 months at the closest top level team to his house, and he'd probably have a big club knocking soon after. It's a long retirement after that, he won't get this time back now where he can still do something special in football
 
Redplane said:
We have some odd sagas tied to this club. Really don't understand why he isn't somewhere yet. Should be plenty of clubs out there whom would want him. Maybe not perennial top clubs paying top dollar but surely anything high mid tier you would think. Makes ya wonder if there is something else at play.
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He made a fortune playing for us. We over paid him and now he can't get up for anything less.
 
If he doesn't take anything this season surely that's his career over. A one year sabbatical can be taken (although rare/unheard of) similar to if someone had a year long injury.
Two seasons out would mean he loses most of his remaining football reflexes and fitness. A shame to see.
 
I think he is an unappealing prospect now. An old fashioned keeper who relies on his reflexes after spending more than a year out of the game.

I don’t think any side with serious ambitions is going to gamble on him as a number one. If he wanted to play on, it was a massive mistake to take so long out.

I think he will retire and we will see the announcement soon.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
To each their own and if that's his mindset then who am I to say anything. He's done enough to never work again for the rest of his life and has a Premier League winners medal in his pants

But he was the best GK in the World at one point and is still young enough and talented enough to win more. 6 months at the closest top level team to his house, and he'd probably have a big club knocking soon after. It's a long retirement after that, he won't get this time back now where he can still do something special in football
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This just isn't true. No club expecting to win things wants a goalkeeper that can't (and doesn't) leave his line for balls either aerially or on the ground. They don't want a goalkeeper who panics with the ball at his feet and hoofs the ball into the sky rather than retaining possession with a pass to a defender. He was quite literally one of the worst goalkeepers in the league for a period of several seasons at each of those qualities, through eye test backed up by the stats, followed by a season of not playing, where the only serious interest came from Nottingham Forest. Sure, he still made some incredible reflex saves over the past three or four seasons, but half the time they came from situations he had either directly given the ball away or refused to come and deal with a simple cross into the box or ball behind the defenders, so were saves that 90% of goalkeepers don't need to make anyway. He made real progress on working on his weaker areas under LVG, but as soon as the club allowed him to bring in his own coach that work stopped overnight; and then came the messages from Hoek about him being unhappy having to train 80:20 with the team, which cannot read well for any potential employers given how football is nowadays. He's just nowhere near as good as he, or the majority of this forum, thinks he is.
 
Theonas said:
He’s not good enough for those who can pay him and too expensive for the rest.
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This is exactly it. Outside of the PL and the European giants, starting keepers in Europe make 10% or less of the wages he was getting at United. Obviously he's making $0 right now, but the point is his expectations are still going to be anchored to an unrealistically high amount.
 
JB7 said:
This just isn't true. No club expecting to win things wants a goalkeeper that can't (and doesn't) leave his line for balls either aerially or on the ground. They don't want a goalkeeper who panics with the ball at his feet and hoofs the ball into the sky rather than retaining possession with a pass to a defender. He was quite literally one of the worst goalkeepers in the league for a period of several seasons at each of those qualities, through eye test backed up by the stats, followed by a season of not playing, where the only serious interest came from Nottingham Forest. Sure, he still made some incredible reflex saves over the past three or four seasons, but half the time they came from situations he had either directly given the ball away or refused to come and deal with a simple cross into the box or ball behind the defenders, so were saves that 90% of goalkeepers don't need to make anyway. He made real progress on working on his weaker areas under LVG, but as soon as the club allowed him to bring in his own coach that work stopped overnight; and then came the messages from Hoek about him being unhappy having to train 80:20 with the team, which cannot read well for any potential employers given how football is nowadays. He's just nowhere near as good as he, or the majority of this forum, thinks he is.
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When you say it isn't true, you mean you disagree.

Unfortunately neither of us will likely win this debate because the lazy bastard is at home with cheetos squashed under his ever-expanding arse.
 
I think he could easily get a 200k a week deal in Saudi, fair play if he doesn't want to play on just for money, I respect him for that.
 
Mas Risky said:
I used to support him, even in the last few years when he wasn't performing well. But his decision to be unemployed after we released him for free reflects his poor mentality. Even if he is willing to lower his wages now, I don't think no club wants to sign a player who has been on hiatus for a year.
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You literally don't know why he's not signed and making up stuff. We have no clue if something's happened to someone in his life and he's valuing that over football.
 
Millions in the bank, never has to work another day in his life, married with a young kid who want to stay in Madrid. Why doesn't he go to Saudi Arabia?
 
LawCharltonBest said:
When you say it isn't true, you mean you disagree.

Unfortunately neither of us will likely win this debate because the lazy bastard is at home with cheetos squashed under his ever-expanding arse.
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Well I do disagree, because I don't see what evidence there is that 6 months at a club would get a top club likely to win things interested in him, given that he has been available on a free for over 18 months (and for the first 6 of those months was playing consistent football week in, week out) and only Nottingham Forest have been credited with any serious interest.

roseguy64 said:
You literally don't know why he's not signed and making up stuff. We have no clue if something's happened to someone in his life and he's valuing that over football.
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Bloody weird posting football training videos on Instagram to remind clubs he's still alive if he doesn't want to keep playing.
 
Maybe he's only motivated by playing for a big club/a club where stakes are high? A reverse Ben Foster if you will.
 
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