Jose Mourinho appears to have been vindicated after claiming David de Gea was "lucky" to earn a lucrative new Manchester United contract in 2019.
De Gea put pen to paper on a four-year deal worth an eye-watering £375,000 per week, making him the highest-paid goalkeeper in the world. The Spaniard has been on United's books for over a decade and is one of the leaders in the dressing room, but his form has been hugely inconsistent in recent seasons.
While there have been some masterful shot-stopping displays which have delighted the Old Trafford faithful, there have also been some howlers which the 31-year-old would rather forget. The most recent of these came in Saturday evening's humbling defeat by Brentford, when De Gea was at fault for the first and arguably the second of the Bees' goals.
It was a dismal display which has put the Red Devils No. 1 firmly in the spotlight - and one which he courageously addressed by nominating himself for post-match media duties. Erik ten Hag must decide whether to persist with the under-pressure 'keeper or make a change, with Tom Heaton waiting in reserve and a new shot-stopper on the club's shopping list.
In the meantime, fans with good memories may remember the warning Mourinho sounded about De Gea back in 2020, when he expressed his concern about handing the player such a lucrative, long-term extension. "De Gea? I think the moment when he signed his huge contract is the moment I don't think United needs to pay as much as that to have him," the legendary manager told Sky Sports.
Mourinho's suspicions certainly appear to be on the money, as De Gea has not performed like the best goalkeeper in the world since signing his contract extension despite his exorbitant pay packet. In fact, many fans would argue there are a number of superior shot-stoppers in the Premier League alone, with Manchester City's Ederson and Liverpool's Alisson considered two of the best in the business.
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Meanwhile, De Gea did not shy away from his disastrous outing against Brentford and declared it was his fault United left West London without a point to their name having been thoroughly humiliated. "First of all, I have to take responsibility. I think we have lost three points today," he told Manchester United reporters.
"The first minutes, before the goal, it [the game] was under control. Nothing happened and then after the first goal, we concede a goal and then I think the team was down, down, down. We didn't react. We should be capable to react much better, but it was unacceptable the goal that I conceded today."
