Nine years at Old Trafford and David de Gea boasts of multiple title wins but according to Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the score-stopper has yet to reach his championship quota. The Spaniard has four more years to play with the Red Devils and Solskjaer said more trophies await.
De Gea first wore the United shirt in 2011 and the club won the Premier League soon after. The FA Cup, the EFL, and the Europa League likewise followed but Solskjaer said there is more to come for the goalkeeper. He added the United man, already 29, is fit to play another decade and continue to shine.
"He has come out and said that he wants to play many, many more - maybe 10 more years," The Guardian reported the United boss as saying.
De Gea will soon appear on his 400th game and the Norwegian said the player will stay at the top due to hard work and dedication. Solskjaer said he sees the Spaniard not stopping until he has won the big titles like the Champions League.
BBC noted that the United keeper has one thing to be proud of. He has been his club's Player of the Year four times and the honor sets him apart from former club superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who got the award three times.
Yet as pointed out by Solskjaer, De Gea is not big on personal honors. What matters most to the player is winning as many titles as possible for his side, and the bigger the trophies the better.
That has to be the reason for the former Atletico Madrid star to continue for United. De Gea is on a mission to win in the big leagues because not doing so, according to the United manager, "is something he will feel is a black dot in his career."
In the last 18 months though, preventing the other side from scoring appeared to have become more difficult on De Gea. Metro said the keeper made mistakes that seemed to hint he is starting on the path of gradual decline.
The Spaniard, however, fended off the criticisms with his superb performance in the last four games by the Red Devils. De Gea turned in three clean sheets and his team is riding on the crest of an incredible winning run, which now counts 16 won games since January.
De Gea responding positively to bad reviews only showed that the stopper's mind is iron-clad, Solskjaer said. He dismissed the suggestion of dropping the goalkeeper, adding the player's strong mentality is the kind of asset he intends to keep.
