David De Gea´s transfer to the English Premier league with Manchester United at the start of the 2011/2012 football season put the 21-years old Spanish goalkeeper firmly in the floodlight. Playing for a side like Alex Ferguson´s Red Devils is pressure enough, but having to fill the gaps between the posts left by the retired Edwin van der Saar and put de Gea under even greater pressure at the start of his young career.

Having captained the Spain U-21 National Team the young keeper is no stranger to responsibility and when he got an opportunity to keep goal for Atletico Madrid in 2009 at the tender age of 18 he went on to prove he was a capable and reliable stopper with a safe pair of hands despite a shaky start.

A close-up image of David de Gea, in a Spain U-21 appearance.

His first La Liga appearance came against Real Zaragoza on 3rd October 2009. Although he gave away a penalty in the 19th minute he redeemed himself by brilliantly saving Marko Babic´s spot kick. Atletico won the game 2-1. By the end of the 2009/2010 season, de Gea had established himself as the number one choice between the posts and turned in two man-of-the-match performances.

The young keeper continued in the same vein in the following season and won over many admirers – including the Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson. After making some crucial saves and helping his team to victory in the UEFA Super Cup final he was snapped up by the Old Trafford outfit.

Career at Manchester United

De Gea´s United career did not get off to the best of starts. A costly mistake in a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Blackburn Rovers, De Gea faced great criticism about his ability to command his box and the ball on crosses. The youngster was subsequently dropped although his manager publicly stated that he had faith in the player to come back stronger.

When he was given another chance, the young starlet did not let his manager down and gave some outstanding performances that made his critics eat their words. His performance against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is a notable for his phenomenal save to keep out Juan Mata 89th-minute effort from a free-kick with the game tied at 3-3. It was voted save of the season.

Although United miss out on the title to their city rivals in the dying minutes of the season, De Gea played his part and finished the season with the best saves-to-shots ratio in the Premier League with an impressive 77.9 per cent ratio.

De Gea has yet to make his mark on the international stage with Spain´s senior squad, but he has already he has a winning mentality and has helped the under-17 side to victory in the 2007 European Championship and a runners-up medal in the World Cup. His performances for the U-17´s together with Atletico Madrid earned him a call up in a 30-man provisional squad ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but was not included in the final cut by manager Vincente del Bosque.

Conclusion

Still in the very early stages of his career, David de Gea is already making an impression with football´s top managers and if he continues to turn in match winning performances and make vital saves on the biggest stage his international chance will come. One thing for certain is, with Manchester United David de Gea´s career will win him plenty of silverware. If you want to buy gloves like David de Gea’s gloves , visit Keepers Kit and checkout their latest offers.

Image Credits: Wikipedia and vagueonthehow.