David de Gea is not a new problem for Manchester United. Of course, his backers – and that appears to include many people at the club – will always point to his shot-stopping ability, which has clearly been a strength over the course of his career in England.
We can t forget that legendary performance against Arsenal in a 3-1 away win for United in the 2017-18 season, when De Gea equalled a Premier League record by making 14 saves.
But if that kind of goalkeeper becomes less reliable at arguably the one thing they re good at, questions have to be asked. De Gea was, of course, culpable in United s 4-0 humiliation by Brentford on Saturday.
He let Josh Dasilva s tame long-range effort sneak into the bottom-right corner, and that opened the floodgates on what was one of United s worst days in Premier League history.
But that wasn t all. His needless pass to Christian Eriksen when the Dane was under pressure brought the second goal and further highlighted something De Gea s detractors have started to mention frequently in the past few years: he s not good enough with the ball to be relied upon in a team that wants to build from the back.
That s the style of play Erik ten Hag wants to impose, yet De Gea appears to be far from the ideal candidate. Granted, the need to make saves will always be important for a goalkeeper, and the Spaniard s record of 2.8 goals prevented last season was second only to Jose Sa (8.5) in the Premier League.
But goalkeepers have become more and more important in the implementation of possession-based football over the past decade, and the longer you have the ball, the fewer opportunities the opponent has to score – for example, the three teams with the greatest shares of possession last term also faced the fewest shots.
So, if De Gea – who last season only completed 69 per cent of his passes – is not suitable, which goalkeepers are? Stats Perform takes a look at the Opta data of the more realistic potential targets
KEYLOR NAVAS
If United were able to sign Navas, there s lots to suggest it would be a very shrewd acquisition.
Although the Costa Rican is 35, stylistically the Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper does appear to be a good fit for a team that wants to build from the back.
Over the past three seasons, Navas 89.9 per cent pass completion rate last term is the highest by any goalkeeper (minimum 1,000 minutes played) in a single campaign across the top five leagues. He posted that figure as he and Gianluigi Donnarumma tussled for the starting role.
The season before he found a team-mate with 85.7 per cent of his passes, while in both campaigns he showed he was dependable when facing shots, recording 80.4 and 76.9 save percentages respectively – the former was the best such record of any keeper (min. 1,000 minutes played) over the past three campaigns.
When you consider PSG are seemingly willing to sell, with a move to Napoli apparently in the works, this could be a wonderful opportunity for United.
MARC-ANDRE TER STEGEN
This might seem a slightly unrealistic option initially, but Ter Stegen certainly shouldn t be seen as unattainable.
While Ter Stegen has rarely been suggested as a likely option for Barcelona to raise funds, he does still retain reasonable value and his sale would ease salary limit concerns – let s not forget, the Frenkie de Jong saga may be murky, but the Blaugrana need money.
As for his suitability to Ten Hag s brand of football, Ter Stegen s essentially been playing that way throughout his time at Barcelona. In each of the past three seasons, he has recorded a pass completion percentage of over 85 per cent – no other goalkeeper across the big five leagues can match that.
The concern, however, is his shot-stopping capabilities. In the three seasons mentioned he has, Opta data says, conceded more goals than the average goalkeeper would have expected to based on the quality of chances faced, and his save percentage figures for the three campaigns (68.8, 69 and 70.4) aren t much better than the average for the keepers in question (67.4 per cent).
WOJCIECH SZCZESNY
Poland international Szczesny may not be remembered especially fondly in the Premier League as he failed to live up to early promise at Arsenal.
But in Serie A he s carved out a fine career for himself. First, he kept Alisson out of the Roma team, and then he went on to become Juventus chosen one to replace Gianluigi Buffon.
He isn t perfect, but again he is a goalkeeper with decent passing stats. His accuracy (79.4 per cent) last season was, admittedly, his worst record out of the past three campaigns, but in 2020-21 he was at 89.1.
Szczesny s save percentages over the period in question range from 68 to 74.4, which are reasonable without being spectacular, though he prevented 5.1 goals in 2019-20 and 2.3 last term. Both are fine records.
ILLAN MESLIER
Obviously, a goalkeeper s statistics are very often a reflection of the team they play in and the players around them. Just because a keeper has an excellent passing accuracy in one side doesn t mean they will in another, or vice versa.
Meslier is a keeper United are said to have been long-term admirers of, and in the data search that identified Navas, Szczesny and Ter Stegen as suitable, the Frenchman is one of precious few under the age of 23 who could fit the bill long term.
The 22-year-old hasn t played behind an especially effective defence since coming into the Premier League with Leeds United, but in the 2020-21 season he recorded a 72.6 save percentage and a reasonable passing accuracy of 77.1 per cent.
Granted, both were significantly poorer in 2021-22 and he endured a disappointing season individually – letting in 15.8 goals more than expected, the fifth-worst in Europe s top league – that will have raised some doubts, but he has shown potential in a Leeds team that is known for being chaotic.
He d be a gamble, but at this point it could be argued United need as much change as possible.
