David De Gea bids farewell to Manchester United after 12 years

Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea on Saturday bid adieu to Manchester United after his contract expired last week saying, “it’s the right time to undertake a new challenge”.

“I would like to express my unwavering gratitude and appreciation for the love from the last 12 years. We’ve achieved a lot since my dear Sir Alex Ferguson brought me to this club,” De Gea who joined the English club in 2011 as a 20-year-old said on Twitter.

“I took incredible pride everytime I pulled on this shirt, to lead the team, to represent this institution, the biggest club in the world was an honour only bestows upon a few lucky footballers.

“It’s been an unforgettable and successful period since I came here. I didn’t think from leaving Madrid as a young boy we would achieve what we did together.

“Now, it’s the right time to undertake a new challenge, to push myself again in new surroundings.

Manchester will always be in my heart, Manchester has shaped me and will never leave me. We’ve seen it all,” he concluded.

The 32-year-old played 545 games for the 20-time Premier League (PL) winners and kept 190 clean sheets in the process.

He also guided the Red Devils to their last PL title in 2013 where he only conceded 26 goals in 28 matches and also kept 11 clean sheets.

The Spaniard bid farewell to Man United after winning eight trophies including a PL title, UEFA Europa League, and FA Cup.

He also won the PL golden glove last season with 16 clean sheets throughout the season over the likes of Man City’s Ederson and Liverpool’s Alisson.

That was the second time the Spaniard won that award in his PL career. His first accolade came in the 2017/18 season under the manager Jose Mourinho when he kept 18 clean sheets while conceding only 28 goals in 37 league games.

Despite having so many legendary years with United, De Gea had a massive dip in his form and was making errors on a weekly basis due to which a big part of Man United’s fanbase started to demand a new goalkeeper.

With the 32-year-old’s departure, the English club are now set to sign Inter Milan’s Andre Onana.