Five Possible De Gea Replacements
With the ever-increasing speculation that Manchester United’s star goalkeeper David De Gea will be packing his bags and flying off to Real Madrid, we take a look at five possible replacements, in no particular order, for the Spanish shot-stopper if he does end up leaving the club. I repeat possible, because anything could happen in the window.
1) Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)
The Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper is one of the favourites to replace De Gea if the move to Real Madrid goes ahead. Lloris is seen as one of the worlds best goalkeepers and has been for some time. He is also the captain of the French national team with 65 caps to his name.
He has considerable communication skills, commanding his box and makes one-on-ones very one-sided. Lloris however suffers from a weak Spurs defence so that has prevented him from doing as well as he can do. He wants to play Champions League football and Manchester United are the club to offer him that.
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He would be the ideal man to fill De Gea’s boots and help marshal an improving United defence. He has all the skills needed along with standing at over 6ft tall and possessing an ambitious streak that will help him and the club succeed together.
It is all down to if Tottenham will sell up, and if they do, will they may prefer for him to go abroad rather than to Premier League rivals. But money talks and he could well be in a United shirt, for the right price.
2) Samir Handanovic (Inter Milan)
The 75-time capped Slovenian shot-stopper has been named in the Serie A team of the year twice, and touted as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Inter Milan paid €11 million for his services, joining from NK Domzale of Slovenia.
He holds the joint record for most penalties saved in one Italian season, clearly an attractive skill that Manchester United are interested in. Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel were both noted penalty saving experts. He saved six in the 2010/11 season to equal a record that had not been touched since the 1948/49 season. People love statistics in the modern game, and that record is something of interest.
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He did make the headlines after a big mistake led Alvaro Morata to score in a crucial league clash between Inter Milan and Juventus. This may have put some people off, but one mistake should not define a player who is far from a bad goalkeeper. He has the talent, but is he Premier League quality?
3) Asmir Begovic (Stoke City)
A Premier League mainstay, Begovic has had a mixed reception among people, but has the necessary experience and has a lot of talent to work with. He is also one of a select few goalkeepers to have scored a goal in the Premier League too, not that he will have to fulfil that role if he does come to United.
The Bosnian international has spent 5 years at Stoke and could well be on his way to his next challenge. He has been linked with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool too, so he is not short of options and this could make signing him for United a little trickier. However, first team football is most likely at United which does put United ahead of the pack.
His understudy, Jack Butland, has impressed when given the opportunity so Begovic also has that pressure to factor in. Begovic has repeatedly said of his desire to play Champions League football – and like Lloris, is part of the reason why United is an attractive option.
“Of course (I’d want to play in the Champions League), any player as ambitious as myself wants to play at the highest level. I’ve played in the Europa League, the World Cup and World Cup qualifiers.”
If Lloris is United’s first choice Premier League target, then Begovic is surely the next best option.
4) Ilias Moutha Sebtaoui (Standard Liege)
A bit of a punt, as he is still young and untested on a level such as the Premier League. By young, he is just 16 years old. So instead of a successor, he will be more of a long-term project and the man to follow De Gea’s successor.
Various reports suggest a deal has been agreed and Sebtaoui will sign shortly, making the idea of a long-term project much more viable. This is much like the signing of Dayot Upamecano, a long-term project rather than an immediate one.
He is a hot prospect and has attracted attention from across Europe so it makes sense to move quickly for him sooner rather than later. I can’t see him as the man between the posts for the first team any time soon though – it is obviously way too early for that. He is the successor to the successor to put it bluntly.
5) Victor Valdes (Manchester United)
Or maybe there will not be a successor bought in, because Valdes is the man for the job. He made his belated debut against Arsenal in the penultimate game of the season and marked it by conceding a dodgy goal thanks to a deflection off his own defender, Tyler Blackett. His next game, Hull, was much better and came away with a clean sheet.
It remains questionable as to why Louis van Gaal opted to use De Gea in the cup games this season instead of using Valdes. This has meant Valdes is fairly rusty against top opposition, having only played in the under-21 side as an overage player. He did get the full 90 on the last day of the season against Hull and has all summer to get ready with plenty of preseason games ahead.
Valdes should sign another deal and who knows, he is at the moment the most likely to take over as first choice goalkeeper. Louis van Gaal wouldn’t have signed him for the sake of it and the two have worked together in the past with Barcelona, so if anything it was all part of a plan to get him ready to take over.
He is still a top goalkeeper who has played at the highest level for club and country so there is no reason why he shouldn’t be handed the gloves.
Other Possible Options
– Petr Cech – Chelsea goalkeeper looks certain to leave, however is unlikely he will want to leave London hence his strong links to Arsenal. However has also been linked abroad. Chelsea probably don’t want to sell to United.
– Tim Krul – He has worked with Louis van Gaal before, memorably coming on in the World Cup just for the penalty shoot-out and performing admirably. Maybe not seen as good enough after Newcastle’s poor season.
– Iker Casillas – A straight swap is a long-shot but not impossible. However seems to defeat the point and leaves United short with Madrid clearly getting the best deal if this happened. Not a likely deal.