David de Gea is a Spanish professional footballer, who is associated with ‘Manchester United’ and the Spanish national team. He is widely regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world. Since joining ‘Manchester United’ in 2011, he has appeared in three hundred matches for his team and has played a great role in his team becoming one of the most competent teams in the ‘Premier League.’ Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, David has been playing football since he was a child and joined ‘Atletico Madrid’ at the age of 13. He was finally selected for the senior team in 2009, and he has never looked back ever since. In 2010, he played a huge part in his team’s triumph at the ‘UEFA Super Cup’ and the ‘UEFA Europa League.’ He has secured the ‘Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year’ award for three consecutive seasons, starting from the 2013â€"2014 season. With that, he became the first footballer in the history of the game to achieve the honor. He led his national ‘Under-21’ team to win the ‘European Championships’ in 2011 and 2013 and has been playing in the national senior team since 2014.
David de Gea was born on November 7, 1990, in Madrid, Spain. His father, Jose, was a goalkeeper too, and his mother, Marivi, worked as a housekeeper. His parents were married for a long time before they had David, their only child. David was conceived when his parents were in their 40s.
While David was interested in sports, his mother pushed him to focus on academics too. As a result, David excelled in both the departments, but football slowly became his first love. His father being a former footballer, David was fortunate to make use of the best training facilities. *Although he was growing up to be a promising goalkeeper, David was initially an outfield player. His childhood coach mentioned that he was aggressive on the outfield and always had the spark of talent. He played as a midfielder for his school team. Moreover, he was great in every position, as an attacking player or a defender, until the age of 14, when he finally recognized his love for goalkeeping.
He performed his absolute best while goalkeeping. Drawing inspiration from his father, he decided to work harder on his goalkeeping skills. He was a tall kid and played basketball during his free time.
At the age of 13, he joined ‘Atletico Madrid,’ which spelt the beginning of his football career. Over the years, he played wonderfully, and finally ended up with a professional contract at the age of 17.
David de Gea proved his goalkeeping skills during his first few seasons with ‘Atletico Madrid.’ In the debut 2009â€"2010 season, he won two ‘Man of the Match’ awards. However, the beginning of his career was not very smooth. In his debut ‘Championship League’ match against ‘Porto,’ in September 2009, he gave away two goals in the last few minutes. This cost his team the match.
He improved his performance in the ‘La Liga.’ The ‘Premier League’ team ‘Manchester United’ had just lost their legendary goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and were looking for a suitable replacement. David was one of the players they had been following closely. There were speculations that David would end up joining ‘Manchester,’ but he stunned everybody by extending his contract with ‘Atletico’ in 2010.
The 2010â€"2011 season offered a great start to ‘Atletico’ and David. He performed brilliantly to ensure his team’s victory at the ‘UEFA Super Cup.’ As his performances excelled, he began garnering praises from every corner. The manager of ‘Manchester United’ personally visited the stadium to see David in action, and speculations were ripe about him joining ‘Manchester United.’ David put all speculations to rest by stating that he was bound to a contract with ‘Atletico’ until 2013 and that he was not going anywhere before that.
In 2011, he helped Spain’s ‘Under-21’ team to secure a ‘UEFA European Championship’ win, and in June 2011, it was officially confirmed that David had been acquired by ‘Manchester United’ for a record sum of 18.9 million pounds. In July 2011, David made his debut for ‘Manchester United.’
On July 23, 2011, he played against ‘Chicago Fire’ in his debut match, which was a friendly contest. Manchester won 2â€"1, but the competitive tournaments were a mixed bag as far as David’s initial performance was concerned.
In October 2011, David gave away six goals in a ‘UEFA Champions League’ match against ‘Manchester City,’ resulting in his team’s 1â€"6 loss. It was the worst defeat that ‘Manchester United’ had faced since 1955. His performance was criticized to an extreme degree, and the team management decided to replace him in the next few matches. David accepted that his first season with ‘Manchester United’ was a disappointment.
The 2012 Olympics kept David away from first few matches of ‘Manchester United’ in the 2012â€"2013 season, and after the initial hiccups, his performance caught a momentum. In February 2013, he saved some difficult goals from his opponents. He was eventually voted into the ‘PFA Premier League Team of the Year’ by the end of the season. He ended up having 11 clean sheets in the 28 games that he played in.
During the next two seasons, he eventually started his glorious journey to become one of the most respected goalkeepers in the world. He won the ‘Players’ Player of the Year’ award in both the seasons. In the 2014â€"2015 season, he won the ‘Save of the Season’ award. In May 2016, he won another ‘Players’ Player of the Year’ award for the 2015â€"2016 season and became the first player to win the honor three times in a row.
In April 2017, he was included in the ‘PFA Team of the Year.’ This was his fourth selection for the team as a goalkeeper.
He was the goalkeeper in Spain’s ‘Under-17’ team that won the ‘European Championship’ in 2007 and ended up as the first runner-up in the ‘Under-17 World Cup’ the same year. He was further selected as his senior team’s goalkeeper for the 2014 ‘World Cup.’ Although his team was ousted in the group stage, he helped Spain secure many victories in international matches.
He further led his national ‘Under-21’ team to win the ‘European Championships’ in 2011 and 2013. He is currently regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
David de Gea is in a relationship with famous singer Edurne Garcia Almagro, who is five years older than him.
David is a hyperopic, which means he is clinically far-sighted. He wears contact lenses to prevent his condition from affecting his performances.
Apart from being one of the best goalkeepers in the world, David is an ardent fan of metal music and regularly attends concerts and music shows in Manchester.
