David de Gea does not want to be Manchester United's player of the year next season – because it means they will have had another failed campaign.
Jose Mourinho said there was something fundamentally wrong with a club when a goalkeeper is named player of the year, as De Gea was, four times between 2014 and 2018. De Gea agreed with his former United boss and is keeping his fingers crossed he is not picking up the Sir Matt Busby trophy at the end of Erik ten Hag's first season in charge.
"Yeah, I totally agree,” said De Gea. “It's good for me, of course, I love to win trophies, but I totally agree with what he said. It must be a striker, a midfielder. For sure, this season it's going to be another player or striker."
De Gea, 31, currently United's longest-serving player, is closing in on his 500th appearance for the club and is about to embark on his 12th season at Old Trafford. Had a dodgy fax machine not scuppered his move to Real Madrid on deadline day in 2015, the Spaniard would now have four Champions League crowns and three La Liga titles to his name.
As it is, his CV boasts a solitary Premier League title, one FA Cup, one League Cup and the Europa League, a modest return for arguably one of the world's best keepers. Yet De Gea insists he has no regrets at not making the move to Real and said his affinity with United means more to him, despite the club's lack of success in recent years.
"Winning or not winning, just being in this club means more than winning trophies,” said De Gea, speaking at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Perth, during a break from United's pre-season tour. “But, of course, we want to win, we always want to win, but representing this club is bigger than any trophy.
“Manchester is my home. It's a privilege, an honour, to be here and it's one of the best things in my life, to be a part of this club."
De Gea did not hold back last season, branding United's sixth-placed finish and lowest points total of the Premier League era as “embarrassing” and “a disgrace” as their campaign imploded. "I think many things had to change,” said De Gea. “I think we were really poor last season, we played really badly.
"For me, for everyone, it was a very tough season, embarrassing sometimes. Some games were a mess, a disaster. We should learn from last season that it cannot happen again, because it was tough, it was painful to be there and we weren't capable of winning games, losing 4-0 or 5-0. It was unacceptable, but sometimes you have to feel pain to go up and keep going.”
Asked if it was his lowest point in 11 years at United, De Gea said: “Yeah, probably in the way we played and the way we conceded chances. But now we're really improving with the new manager. He's very intense, he brings new things, new thoughts, so we need to adapt to him.
“We've shown already in the games we're pressing high, we win the ball, we want to keep the ball, dictate and we want to lead the game. I feel good energy in the team, more positivity, more focus.
“We needed a better culture of football, just thinking about football, nothing else. With the new manager, we're in a good way. For sure, he's very focused on football and what we need and the players feel the same, so I have a good feeling."
