David de Gea's goal-keeping blunder in Manchester United's 1-0 to West Ham on Sunday has left experts questioning his future with the Red Devils.
Despite keeping more clean sheets than any other keeper in the league, De Gea has also made a number of high-profile gaffes that mean his contract with the Old Trafford giants might not be renewed when it expires at the end of the season.
De Gea was not able to stop Said Benrahma’s speculative long-range effort prompting former England striker Peter Crouch to tell BT Sport, “If he’s in contract negotiations, making mistakes like that is never going to help.
“He’s been a top-class goalkeeper over the years, but at the moment it feels like he’s making big errors in big, big games.
“David de Gea has had a shocker, we can’t dress it up. You can’t justify it at all, it’s a terrible mistake.
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David de Gea 👀
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West Ham lead as the United keeper palms it into the back of the net.
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“It’s a strange one, because he’s conceded goals from his own mistakes, but he’s also kept the most clean sheets in the league.”
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was a little more circumspect, but he agreed with Crouch that De Gea’s time at Old Trafford might be up. “The question mark about him I think is whether he’s good enough with his feet to play the Erik ten Hag way,” he said.
“In terms of shot-stopping, he’s made a mistake today – but that’s not the area I question him. Is he a good enough footballer to play for Manchester United?
“The only person that can answer that is Erik ten Hag and we’ll know at the end of this season.”
