#360view: David De Gea is perfect fit for Real Madrid

Andy West 07:52 17/05/2015
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  • David De Gea looks like the perfect replacement for the declining Iker Casillas.

    After witnessing the collapse of their Champions League and La Liga challenges, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will, no doubt, react to the demise of his team’s season in the only way he knows how – spending lots of money.

    Perez’s approach to squad-building is so unique that it has even earned a place in everyday sporting lexicon – mention the word ‘Galacticos’ to any reasonably well informed football fan, and they will immediately know you are talking about Madrid’s long-standing habit of buying the most glamorous players possible.

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    Traditionally, it doesn’t appear to matter whether those players  actually fit the profile of the player the squad needs, resulting in a bundle of new arrivals who sell plenty of shirts but don’t actually do much to help the the team.

    This year, however, Perez seems set to pursue a different course by hanging his hat upon a player who exactly fits his club’s requirements on the field of play as well as marketing the global brand.

    That player, of course, is Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, whose long-standing refusal to sign a new contract at Old Trafford has led the fallen English giants to accept his departure is nigh.

    He will be the perfect signing because Iker Casillas, as great as he has been, is no longer good enough to play for Real Madrid.

    That much was clear during his disastrous World Cup with Spain last summer, and apparent again in this week’s damaging draws against Valencia and Juventus,.

    Both Valencia’s opener from Paco Alcacer and Alvaro Morata’s decisive tie-winner for Juve could have been saved. 
    I wouldn’t go as far to say they should have been saved because neither were howlers, but they were both close enough to him to have been repelled by a great save, and making great saves is exactly what top goalkeepers are supposed to do.

    The fact that Casillas was able to keep out neither is another illustration – as if we needed it – that he is past it. 

    With their veteran captain’s 15-year stint as Madrid’s goalkeeper coming to an end, then, a new man is needed between the posts. And although Keylor Navas will be understandably miffed about not being given a proper chance to prove himself, nobody fits the bill better than De Gea.

    For starters, he is Spanish. That is important, because Casillas’s long custody of the goalkeeping gloves has made Madrid fans accustomed to the habit of seeing a local boy serve as their team’s last line of defence. 
    And although De Gea started his career with Atletico, he is Madrid born and bred and will therefore be immediately accepted by the fans as one of their own.

    He is also young, potentially giving Madrid’s team a firm foundation for the next ten years and, most importantly, he is also very good, having honed his talents and developed his physical capabilities in the roughhouse environment of the English Premier League.

    He has also proved that he is able to handle the most brutal criticism without it affecting his confidence. The bottom line is that Real Madrid need a new goalkeeper – finding one who happens to be both young and Spanish is a bonus they cannot turn down. Florentino Perez’s transfer policy isn’t always wise, but signing David De Gea certainly would be.

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