BREAKING: The exit of De Gea, closure of an era

Not every day will Sir Alex Ferguson skip a United’s League Cup match to make a trip to Spain only to watch a 20-year-old goalkeeper perform.

Back at his boyhood club, Atletico Madrid, David De Gea was tapped to be the successor to the legendary Edwin Van Der Sar who had announced his imminent exit from the club, leaving United with the onus to find a suitable replacement for a club luminary.

On a young De Gea’s shoulder would the heft of Van Der Sar be placed with many unable to hold back their fears in the capacity of the Spanish goalkeeper enduring, let alone excelling, under such eminent weight. But Fergie, in the face of stern disapproval, stuck out his neck for the 20-year-old, confident in his ability to be a worthy heir.

12-year United career
De Gea would go on to hold his own between the sticks for United for over a decade, winning the Premier League, Europa League, two EFL cups and one FA cup in a club-record 545 appearances.

Although jittery and shaky during his first six months at the club, it cannot be taken for granted that when Ferguson takes a look back at the Spaniard’s 12-year stint at the club, he would be proud that after all, his unpopular conviction paid off.

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Chequered Times
For De Gea, there are some moments in his stint at United he will look back at and want to hit the delete button. There are some he will look back at and just give a shrug. While there are definitely some he will look back at and take pride in himself. If there is anyone that has indeed had it good, bad and ugly at United, it would definitely be De Gea.

While it must not have been easy to maintain consistency and continue to court the goodwill of the club fanbase, enduring eight different managers within a ten-year chaotic period does not seem a lesser evil. Many would even ascribe his legendary honour to his unflinching loyalty to the club despite the travails it was swirled in after the exit of Ferguson in 2013. When his teammates took flight off not being able to withstand the tempest that had folded the club into a shadow of its former self, De Gea stayed back to fight for the badge resolutely and gallantly.

Some eyebrows would even be raised that De Gea is just managing to leave the club despite plots of all sorts from some managers, teammates and even the media to rake him out. De Gea, however, would not only show them how much of a professional he was but how much of the ‘Red’ blood he has running through his veins.

A Farewell
Though he left in 2013, the club retained a chunk of Fergie boys, hoping to forge a fearsome blend of the old generation and the new generation. Things would, however, not go as planned as United fluttered and flickered, only barely now finding their feet.

While the exit of De Gea might not have been one befitting of a legend, it closes a significant era in the club’s history.