Manchester United have another reason to celebrate after David De Gea was officially awarded the Golden Globe for the most clean sheets in the 2022/23 Premier League season.
The Spaniard has been the subject of controversy among a lot of the Red Devils’ fans this season because of his many errors which has seen the team struggle.
Despite those errors, he has been able to rack up 16 clean sheets in the league this season thanks to his excellent shot stopping skills and good defending from the defenders in front of him. The 2 – 0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday sealed the deal and returned the award to him after five seasons.
It is his second golden glove award since joining United in 2011 and it is just one of many personal accolades he has received as a player for the Premier League giants.
The award will be a boost for his chances to remain the club’s number one goalkeeper for the foreseeable future, after it emerged that he would be offered a new contract which would not only reduce his £385,000-a-week salary significantly but mandate him to compete for the number one spot in the club.
He is not the outright winner of the award just yet as Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope and Alisson Becker are all on 13 clean sheets. Should he concede in all of the remaining three games and one of the aforementioned goalkeepers keeps clean sheets in the remaining three games, De Gea will be sharing the award.
He will need one more clean sheet to become the outright winner and United’s next game against Bournemouth will be the first of his three chances.
Erik ten Hag praised De Gea recently in the wake of all the errors that the former Spain number one had been making to cost Manchester United. “No, I don’t give considerations [to dropping him]. He will definitely play,” ten Hag said, just before De Gea bagged his 16th clean sheet.
“Is that [pay cut] a reason [for De Gea’s poor performances]? No, I don’t think that’s a reason because David is so experienced. I can think of a thousand and one reasons, but I don’t think that’s the reason. As a top player, you have such circumstances and you have to accept it, deal with it and the demand is you have to perform.”
Manchester United and ten Hag, however, have identified RSC Anderlecht goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen as the new contender for David de Gea’s number one spot.
The Dutch goalkeeper could come in the summer and be a long-term replacement for De Gea, who will be 33 by the end of the 2023/24 season. In the meantime, the 20-year-old Verbruggen will be expected to compete with De Gea for United’s number 1 shirt should he make the switch from Belgium to England next season.
