Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has provided an update on his future after leaving Old Trafford last summer. De Gea walked away last June after 12 years at the club when his £375,000-a-week contract expired. The Spaniard won five major honours with United, including the Premier League in 2013, and was named the club’s player of the year, but 10 months on from his exit he is still without for a new club.
De Gea is now 33, and some fans may have been left wondering whether he could retire after not being picked up by a top team this season. However, De Gea has vowed to return in a post on social media. Alongside a photo of him training at what appears to be a non-league ground, De Gea left a three-word caption that simply read: ‘I’ll be back.’
His defiant message is the clearest indication yet that he has no plans of hanging up his boots and still feels he has plenty left to offer. De Gea was linked with a sensational return to United in late 2023 after his successor Andre Onana’s difficult start to life at Old Trafford. Onana made a number of errors in United’s disastrous Champions League campaign that saw them finish bottom of their group and crash out of Europe before Christmas.
But Erik ten Hag opted to stand by the Cameroonian, and Onana has started to repay that faith in the second half of the season. He made a crucial penalty save in United’s shootout victory against Coventry at Wembley on Sunday as United booked their place in a second consecutive FA Cup final.
Newcastle also considered a shock move for De Gea after Nick Pope suffered a dislocated shoulder in a 1-0 win against United in December. Pope is still yet to return to action, but Newcastle opted against pursuing De Gea and have instead relied upon Martin Dubravka and Loris Karius in Pope’s absence.
Nottingham Forest were also reportedly interested in signing De Gea in January, but they brought in Matz Sels from Strasbourg on deadline day instead.
De Gea seems to have been enjoying his time away from the game despite insisting that he plans to return at some point, as he went on holiday to the Bahamas with his wife earlier this month. He was trolled on social media by his ex-United team-mate Juan Mata after posting a picture where he looked sunburnt.
De Gea has also kept in contact with some of United’s current squad, as he met up with Bruno Fernandes, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, and Tom Heaton for coffee earlier this season.
