Manchester United must hand a new contract to goalkeeper David de Gea amid his exceptional form over the course of the campaign.
The Spaniard had a difficult start to the season with a couple of blunders but he has since been flawless between the sticks, barring the one incident against Everton in the FA Cup.
De Gea has put in several stand-out performances for United and he was once again crucial today, making two hugely important saves to deny Leicester City, who started brightly.
The Foxes imposed themselves on United during the opening 20 minutes at Old Trafford, but De Gea was on guard to deny both Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho with stellar saves.
United scored the opening goal against the run of play in the 25th minute, but they were truly dominant in the second half as they went on to seal a comfortable 3-0 win in the end.
With the victory, De Gea secured his 180th clean sheet for United. He has now matched the club record held by Peter Schmeichel and will have the chance to eclipse it against Barcelona.
At the start of the campaign, there was much talk over whether De Gea would feature in manager Erik ten Hag’s plans. The ‘magnificent’ star has certainly proved his credentials in flying colours.
He has always been gifted with strong reflexes but has now shown an improvement in his distribution. Against the Foxes, he managed 44 touches and 28 passes with an impressive 13 long balls.
In our opinion, it appears a no-brainer decision to extend De Gea’s stay. The Spaniard’s current £350,000-a-week contract expires in June, but the club have the option to keep him for another 12 months.
Talks are already underway over a new deal with a pay-cut. United must reward him with a new long-term contract amid his outstanding run of form over the past one-and-a-half seasons.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com, Sofascore.com and Capology.com
