Roy Keane may have joked that Manchester United should have got David de Gea back, but perhaps he was on to something.
De Gea was axed by Erik ten Hag after 11 seasons at the club, signing Andre Onana for £47million instead.
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Keane had been one of a number of voices who had criticised the Spaniard in his final years at the club.
In 2020, he said he was ‘sick to death’ of the Spaniard and labelled him as overrated.
The United legend was ruthless in his criticism of De Gea in the 2022/23 season and urged the club to move on from him.
Move on they did, as Onana was signed for £47million from Inter Milan, but his start was a difficult one.
Halfway through last season, Keane even joked about getting De Gea back.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, he jokingly called for De Gea’s return.
Gary Neville said: “Roy, you were very vocal about David de Gea’s time being up at Manchester United.”
Keane said: “No, I would have kept him.”
Cue huge laughter from the rest of the people on the podcast.
“Huge mistake letting him go. Can we not get him back? He’s on a free.
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“No, he had to go. He was making too many mistakes.”
Continuing on Onana, Keane said: “Oh, not great. Obviously a really poor start. We talk about positions at any big club, goalkeeper at Manchester United is huge.
“David made mistakes, but he’s already made six or seven big mistakes that have led to goals. It’s a long way back.
“We’ve seen goalkeepers come to United and they’ve had a tricky start and we worked with them and they seemed to be really good goalkeepers, but there seemed to be no way back for them.”
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They stuck with Onana and De Gea sat out the whole of the 2023/24 season, only joining Fiorentina this summer.
Man United actually conceded more goals and kept fewer clean sheets last season than in the Spaniard’s final campaign at the club.
Now, he is showing he’s still got it with the Italian outfit, saving two penalties in the same game for his new club.
