David De Gea: The Spanish Successor? By Darren Hickey @DHick92

Only the very best can succeed as a Manchester United goalkeeper and so many have failed such as Fabien Barthez, Tim Howard and more recently Tomasz Kuzsczak. After the retirement of Edwin Van Der Sat the big question that came on everyone's lips were ''Who can replace him ?'' He has been such a huge monumental figure between the United sticks ever since his £2m switch from Fulham in 2005. And after years of finger tip saves brilliant catches and commanding his penalty area to the 2008 save that won United the Champions League; one must ask themselves who can replicate this? 
Sir Alex Ferguson had plenty of time to search for successors during the summer with names such as Manuel Neuer and Maarten Stekelenburg but instead opted for 20 year old Athletico Madrid youngster David De Gea. A fee of nearly £20m puts huge pressure on the young Spaniard to succeed at Old Trafford. Is he good enough ? Can he handle the pressure of playing for the most successful team in English history ? Well let's take an indepth look into De Gea. 
De Gea's La Liga debut came at home to Real Zaragoza and was a debut to remember for the young man. After just 20 minutes he gave away a penalty but then redeemed himself by keeping out the spot kick to the delight of all the Athletico fans. From that moment he surged on as his form continued to get better and better and Quiche Sanchez Flores eventually putting faith in De Gea as his number 1 ahead of Asenjo which in itself was quite an achievement for a 19 year old. It was his form in the 2009/10 season that he began to attract interest from Europe after successfully winning the Europa League with Athletico Madrid at the expense of Roy Hodgon's Fulham. 
David De Gea is being hailed as the new Iker Casillas. Similar to De Gea, Callisas become Real Madrid's number 1 keeper at the mere age of 18. Casillas himself has hailed De Gea as a huge talent who will one day take the number 1 slot for the Spain national team away from him he claimed. 
''He will soon be fighting for my place. He's such a huge talent'' said Casillas. 
These are such huge claims for such a young man to aspire to but De Gea has got all the qualities to succeed at club and international level which i am sure he will.




One of football's highly held beliefs is that goalkeepers improve with age and they can continue well into their late thirties without the level of their performance dropping like other players would. If De Gea can do this Manchester United have well and truely found their new goalkeeper for the next 20 years. Like all the best goalkeepers in the world De Gea has such a huge imposing presence and amazingly impeccable consistency which will allow him to succeed at Old Trafford. 
Make no mistake De Gea is coming here with a bagful of confidence and ability with much more to come working under a great coach such as Sir Alex. The young keeper doesn't look like a person who will buckle under the pressure but one who will thrive under it to become one of the world's best.