This summer of course saw lots of speculation about which keeper Manchester United would bring in to replace Edwin Van der Sar. While David De Gea alway seemed to be the obvious choice for Sir Alex Ferguson to buy, there has been talk of him resembling a gamble for us. 

One of the reasons why some Manchester Unite fans view the Spaniard as a gamble is because of his age. At the age of 20 it is easy to see De Gea as one for the future but for an £18.9 million fee it’s hard to imagine him as not being our first choice keeper. 

Having only been first-choice at Atletico Madrid for one full season, it’s another reason why some people are not so sure on him given the fact there were goalkeepers who out there who had more experience. This worry has been brought up regardless of the fact that De Gea has performed to a high stand for Los Indios in La Liga as well as in Europe.

While there does seem to be some negativity around De Gea, Sir Alex has stated that he didn’t want to miss out on a De Gea just because of his age like he did with Petr Cech, which I completely agree with as De Gea is an outstanding talent.

I saw De Gea play in La Liga several times last season and must admit every time I saw him he lived up to his reputation, did what he needed to do and impressed whilst doing it. That of course is a good sign for a young keeper.

De Gea is definitely going to starting the year as our first choice keeper and whilst he may take a while to get used to the physicality of the Premier League and may make a mistake early on, if he keeps improving then he could be with us for a long time to come and that can only be a good thing.

By Tom Bradley