I remember when David de Gea was first starting his career at Manchester United – the press were all over him, as the British press usually is – but United fans didn’t let that get them down. Yes, he made mistakes, but the fans’ trust in him was unwavering, and his performances over the last couple of seasons have both validated and repaid them. So it brings us to the paradox of 2014/15 – with de Gea heavily linked to a move to Madrid, what should we as United fans expect of him?
The way I see it, there’re two ways to approach this. On the one hand, fans are justified in their anger that their years of faith are being treated like this – playing for United, offered ‘a lot of money’, pretty much guaranteed Champions’ League football and still waffling can get people’s goats. Yes, he’s been exceedingly coy about the whole thing, and even when he posts things on social media after games declaring that he’s ‘a red’, he seems to retract any true commitment to United the next day. But does he, because of such behaviour, deserve to see United fans turning against him and declaring that they’re ‘sick’ of what he’s doing? I don’t think so.
First off, we as fans and outside observers of the game are completely different from them as footballers. While all we have to consider are the interests of our favourite teams, not all footballers are lucky enough to be able to play for their favourite clubs, nor do they sometimes have the luxury of sticking with clubs regardless of salary and so on. He’s got to consider chances of trophies, who he’s playing with, and being closer to his family. And honestly, with a defence like United’s, I can’t blame him for questioning whether he wants to continue playing for a probable un-clean sheet. It’s probably not as simple as ‘I like this club, therefore I’ll stay for this club regardless of any other club who wants me’.
Which leads to my next point: hypocrisy. This isn’t just a de Gea situation, but a football situation in general: you cannot blame a football player for wanting to leave your club when you want other players to leave theirs for yours. Case in point: Mats Hummels. United fans are excited (almost desperate) for him to come, but no one’s particularly interested in Dortmund or blaming him for leaving a club he’s come to be so associated with and Captain of. ‘I feel bad for Dortmund but too bad’ seems to be the general consensus – but it’s exactly the same situation. Even bigger case in point: Robin van Persie. United fans were all over Arsenal ones, calling them ‘bitter’ and ‘sore’ for hating on van Persie, but isn’t this exactly what’s going on right now? I’ve seen some United fans get so ridiculously worked up over de Gea and turning on him, becoming exactly the people they used to deride. (Admittedly, the fact that Arsenal fans are still sore about it might factor into the description, but this is how it all started anyway.) If you were a player for another team, and your dream club came calling, would you think twice about your decision? I’m not saying that Madrid is de Gea’s dream club, but it’s a tempting offer, and if you don’t hate van Persie for doing what he did then you can’t hate de Gea for not even doing anything yet.
Fans shouldn’t be getting impatient with him when he hasn’t got all the variables he needs to make a decision. The fact that he’s taking so long and hasn’t said a word about it indicates that at least he’s giving it serious thought. In fact, fans shouldn’t be getting impatient when even we don’t have all the variables. Rumours are rumours, and although these are strong, we don’t know if it will actually translate into a bid anyway. Nothing is official until it comes from the clubs involved in the deals, and it is probably better for any fan’s mental health if they stayed away from rumours as far as possible. It’s absolutely none of our business, nor do we as fans have any control or bearing on the outcome (unless a player really loves the fans of a particular club an amazing amount, which is unlikely).
Finally, people might accuse de Gea of being selfish and disrespectful for toying around with their feelings so aimlessly, but consider this: he’s already repaid us. Last season the only reason United finished in seventh and not lower was because of his spectacular goalkeeping abilities. This season, he’s saved so many games on his own (Everton and Palace the ones that jump out immediately, but there’s definitely more), and took United into the Champions’ League. I’d say that’s a pretty good means of paying back. At the very least, he’s earned the right to do what he must without United fans getting on his back.
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