Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has delivered his response to Dean Henderson’s controversial comments earlier this summer.
Henderson joined Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan during the off-season, and within a couple of days, he revealed his frustration in an explosive interview.
The Red Devils graduate said that he felt like a ‘caged animal‘ and it was ‘criminal’ that he was a regular on the bench over the course of the previous campaign.
The 25-year-old further went on to accuse United of ‘false promises’, and insisted that he was assured the number one role before he was sidelined with coronavirus.
In yesterday’s press conference, De Gea was finally asked about those comments, and his response was quite clear that he is only focused on his duties at United.
He said via Manchester Evening News: “I have to do my job, to try to be better every day.”
“I don’t think it’s the time to talk about our team and what happened last season, we should be more focused on the season now. I have no comments about that.”
David de Gea handled the question perfectly
De Gea was undoubtedly under pressure at United after the 2020/21 Europa League final loss where he missed the deciding penalty in the shoot-out.
Despite this, the Spaniard was backed by then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and he made amends with a terrific 2021/22 campaign where he was faultless.
The shot-stopper won several points for United with stellar saves, and he played a key role in the club progressing beyond the Champions League group stage.
On that basis, there was no way that Henderson would have displaced him last term. He may be frustrated, but De Gea undoubtedly earned his place in the starting XI.
The Spaniard started this season with a couple of blunders, but he has sorted himself over the past five games and appears to be getting back to his very best.
His distribution and mobility in the box continue to remain topics of discussion, but he is an assured starter and should not be bothered about anything else.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
