It was another nightmare showing on Sunday for Manchester United’s David De Gea in what’s turning out to be a season to forget.
De Gea was at fault for the game’s decisive opening goal in the 1-0 defeat to West Ham United when he failed to keep out a tame strike from distance by Said Benrahma. He dived low and should have easily stopped the effort, but somehow let it slip beyond him to put the hosts ahead.
He nearly made another disastrous error in the second half as he failed to collect a cross into his box that found its way into the back of his net. Fortuitously for him, he was awarded a free-kick following what seemed the slightest of touches from West Ham’s Michail Antonio.
The display has again brought his position at United into question. Especially as his current deal expires at the end of this campaign and, as of yet, a new deal has yet to be agreed.
A major stumbling block between both parties is the shot-stoppers' eye-watering wages of £375,000-a-week. United reportedly aren’t keen to offer similar terms, and objectively speaking, you can understand why.
While De Gea might be leading the way in terms of Premier League clean sheets this season (15), his own individual performances have left a lot to be desired. We can highlight this by looking at his post-shot xG (PSxG) data from the Premier League season so far.
PSxG is a metric that determines just how good a shooting opportunity is. It considers a range of factors including the distance from the goal, the angle of the shot, the pace of the effort, how it was assisted and what part of the body was used to hit the ball. This is done by utilising historical shot data.
By using such data, we can better analyse whether a goalkeeper should have conceded more or fewer goals based on the quality of shots they faced. So far this season, De Gea has underperformed by -1.7 goals.
In the Premier League, 18 Premier League shot-stoppers who have played 500+ league minutes have done better this season. The leader of that group of 18 is Liverpool’s Alisson, with an overperformance of +9.3, highlighting the vast difference in quality between the two No.1’s at each of the northwest rivals.
Not only are De Gea’s performances from a shot-stopping perspective on the decline but there remain reasonable concerns about his distribution and whether he can successfully provide what manager Erik ten Hag needs from his goalkeeper to help implement his possession-focused ideologies at Old Trafford.
With his 12-year stay in Manchester looking increasingly likely to end, below are three goalkeepers Manchester United could target to replace him this summer.
David Raya - Brentford
Raya (27) has been linked with United for several months now, and it’s easy to see why. He’s a compatriot of De Gea’s and now a fully-fledged Spain international, having made his debut in March of last year during a 2–1 win over Albania.
He’s five years De Gea’s junior, but more crucially than that, he holds a huge advantage over United’s current No.1 when it comes to playing out with the ball at his feet; no Premier League goalkeeper has played more passes than his total of 1,237 so far this season.
He’d be much better suited to the style of play Ten Hag is looking to implement, plus his overperformance of +3.6 in terms of PSxG highlights how he’s a pretty nifty shot-stopper, too.
Jordan Pickford - Everton
Pickford (29) has been one of Everton’s standout performers this season, despite their rotten campaign.
He boasts a PSxG similar to that of Raya (+3) and has pulled off a host of big stops to help keep the Toffees alive in their relegation battle - none perhaps bigger than his penalty save from England teammate James Maddison last week in the crunch 2-2 draw with Leicester City.
His importance to Everton was reemphasised earlier in the year when he signed a new four-year deal with the club. However, if the relegation-threatened Toffees were to suffer the drop, then he could well be available for an appealing cut-price fee.
Already based in Cheshire on the outskirts of Manchester, it’s a move that’d surely interest Pickford, especially as such a switch would surely stabilise his position as Gareth Southgate’s England No.1.
Diogo Costa - Porto
Costa (23) is another who has been linked heavily with a move to Old Trafford and it’s been rumoured that United scouts have already watched him on several occasions this season.
Unlike the aforementioned Pickford, there’s no potential cut-price fee to acquire his services and in fact, he signed a new Porto deal earlier in the season, increasing his buyout clause from £27million to £52million.
That means United would have to stump up some serious cash to land him, however, there’s a reasonable case to be made that he would be worth the outlay. Despite being just 23, he’s already won five domestic trophies with his boyhood club and has earned valuable Champions League experience.
His PSxG betters either of the aforementioned goalkeepers (+5.3) - albeit in a perceived lesser league - while he’s also averaged 1.21 defensive actions outside his penalty area per 90 this season.
The latter indicates bravery to come off his line and sweep behind his side’s high defensive line, which is something that Ten Hag will be particularly impressed by. For comparison, De Gea has averaged just 0.85 defensive actions outside his penalty area per 90 this season.
Costa looks to have the whole package and is still someway short of his prime years which should make him a highly appealing potential investment from a United perspective.
