How David De Gea went from 11st liability to the best goalkeeper in the world at Manchester United

It was one of the Premier League’s great goalkeeping performances. Save after save, each more impressive than the one that preceded it.

His performance against Arsenal on Saturday was unique, record-equalling, and cemented David De Gea’s spot as the world’s greatest goalkeeper.

Yes, Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is excellent but the Manchester United No 1 is now better. The Spaniard’s reflexes are remarkable and his ability to stop the ball with his feet is unrivalled.

His journey to the top hasn’t been easy, however. Challenges have been overcome, his character tested. So we asked our friends at Football Whispers to reflect on the 27-year-old’s rise from a slight and inconsistent goalkeeper to the world’s best.

De Gea’s story is not rags to riches, it’s quite the opposite in fact. But it is one based around family and how the support of his parents enabled him to achieve the dream of many a young boy.

From an early age De Gea’s love for sport was evident. He would play basketball and tennis and was very good in both. But football was his passion and he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Jose, a former goalkeeper for Getafe.

His formative years, however, were spent as an outfield player. De Gea was tall and quick, while his agility and lightning quick reflexes meant he stood out among his team-mates. And yet he always wanted to be a goalkeeper.

In Jose, David had the perfect coach. His father would attempt to be at every game and every training session. He would then offer advice, guidance and, if required, criticism. It was all to ensure his son could achieve his dream.

As De Gea entered his teenage years, his story becomes a little unclear. There are stories which suggest that, at the age of 14, he was finally offered a chance to join the youth set-up of Atletico Madrid, the club he supported as a boy.

But a coach for Casarrubuelos Football School, a school in Madrid for which De Gea played, tells a different tale.

“We went to play a friendly at Cerro del Espino against the Cadet B of Atletico, who were trained by Emilio Garcia,” he said in an interview with Spanish newspaper AS.

“He always asked me: ‘Juanlu, do you have a goalkeeper for Atleti?’ I said: ‘Look no further, De Gea’. But the weeks passed and David’s father told me that they had put in an offer, so I had to lie to them.

“I had to squeeze them a little bit. I got in touch with Emilio and I said that either they do something or the boy would go to Rayo [Vallecano]. It was not true. But Ruso Diego, the former Atleti goalkeeper, saw David play half a game and that was enough. He was signed immediately. ”

De Gea would move away from the family home in Toledo, but his parents support didn’t wane. Jose wouldn’t just attend every youth game but would be at training – in wind, rain or snow – to watch the progress of his talented son.

His mum would call De Gea up to four times a week to check the precocious goalkeeper wasn’t neglecting his school work.

“She was always worried about the balance between my studies and sports,” the United goalkeeper later explained. “My parents would drive 50km a day just to come take a look at me at Atletico’s training ground in the plush area of Alarcon.”

Some teenagers may have found that overbearing, but De Gea didn’t. He appreciated the love and care he received and remains to this day incredibly close to both of his parents, who moved to England following the goalkeeper’s switch to United.

As De Gea progressed through the youth ranks at Atletico Madrid, his talent was becoming obvious to coaches and players alike. It’s why when Quique Sanchez Flores took over Atleti in October 2009, he asked goalkeeping coach Emilio Alvarez Blanco – who is now the goalkeeper coach at Old Trafford – who was the pick of the Colchoneros stoppers.

Without hesitation Alvarez name-checked De Gea, who is far-sighted, and means he wears contact lenses.

The 18-year-old had made his first-team debut a month earlier, replacing the experienced Roberto in a Champions League game against Porto, a match which Atleti lost 2-0 with De Gea conceding two late goals.

His La Liga debut would come three days later against Real Zaragoza, in which he conceded but saved a penalty in a 2-1 win. It was under Sanchez Flores, however, that De Gea established himself as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.

There were mistakes, hardly unsurprising given his age, but the same qualities that define De Gea today stood out. By January 2010 the transfer rumours linking him with a move to Old Trafford began.

But he remained with Atleti and continued to impress over the next 18 months. There was a Uefa Super Cup win over Chelsea and as well as a Europa League title. By the summer of 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson’s mind was made up, he wanted De Gea to be the long-term successor to Edwin Van der Sar and made his move.

The fee raised a few eyebrows, £18.9million is not often spent on a goalkeeper with less than two years’ experience in a first team. And Sir Alex’s history when signing goalkeepers was far from perfect.

The 13-times winner was so convinced that De Gea was United’s future No 1 that the great Scottish manager missed a game to go and watch him play.

It was just one of two times Fergie missed a game… the other was for his son’s wedding.

He believed in De Gea and the Spain Under-21 international started the 2011/12 season as United’s No 1.

From the off there were doubters. His performance in the Community Shield, which United won 3-2 against Manchester City, drew criticism.

The following week, in his Premier League debut, De Gea allowed a Shane Long shot to slip past him. It was far from an isolated mistake. His first six months in English football were difficult as he adjusted to the rigours of the Premier League, living outside of Spain for the first time and learning a new language.

The 20-year-old, at times, looked like a deer in headlights, and Sir Alex, an excellent man-manager, took his young goalkeeper out of the limelight.

He was dropped in favour of Anders Lindegaard.

De Gea has since admitted he thought about quitting United at this point and pushing for a return to Spain – he was struggling with the demands of playing for one of the biggest clubs in world football.

Eric Steele, United’s goalkeeper coach, described De Gea’s first six months at Manchester United as horrendous.

The coach, who picked up Spanish because De Gea was “lazy in his desire to learn English”, elaborated on the keeper’s problems and how the club helped him in an interview with fanzine United We Stand in 2013.

“One issue with him was that he was just 71 kilos (11 stone). We worked with him on and off the field to make him more powerful. We changed his lifestyle. He would finish training and want to go home. When I told him to come back in the afternoon he’d ask: ‘Why?’

“We pushed protein drinks on him straight after training. We physically made him drink. We had him in the gym a lot. He hated it. They don’t do the gym in Spain as much. We needed to build his core strength.

“I told him he needed to train better, that he was on show every day. There were times in his first season when he trained poorly. I told him that players made decisions for managers, not the other way around. That he should be first, not last out for training.”

After four games on the substitutes’ bench, De Gea was recalled to the United side. He seized his chance. United drew 3-3 in a pulsating game with Chelsea but the Spaniard produced a number of important saves.

It helped rebuild his confidence and from that moment De Gea hasn’t looked back. United would win the next eight games with De Gea between the posts. He was transformed – collecting crosses with authority and putting his body in dangerous areas when required.

“David has stood up as a man,” Ferguson said at the time. “He got a grip of it, he didn’t let it get to him and the boy has improved every game.

“The area in which he had been criticised was aerial balls in the box and, if you watch the Blackburn game, the last corner-kick, he should have dealt with that.

“He knew that and he’s addressed that situation, so there’s a great improvement there. Now he’s playing with confidence and confidence is a great factor in English football. He’s shown fantastic improvement.”

Barring another short spell on the bench the following season, De Gea has since been United’s undisputed No 1. He collected a Premier League winners’ medal in Ferguson’s final season, 2012/13, but it was the following campaign in which his talent was finally recognised.

United appointed David Moyes following Ferguson’s retirement. It proved to be the wrong decision but the Red Devils’ failings meant De Gea was busier than ever before. There were games in which he single-handedly earned United points. His talents were finally recognised and at the end of the 2013-14 campaign he was named Manchester United Player of the Year.

Over the next two seasons, he’d retain the accolade. United’s struggles enabled De Gea to shine, although he would’ve undoubtedly preferred to be in the shadows of a side competing for honours.

It’s why in the summer of 2015 his time at Old Trafford was set to come to an end. Real Madrid wanted the goalkeeper and he wanted a move to the Bernabeu. Given United’s performances under David Moyes and then Louis van Gaal, it’s difficult to criticise his desire to depart.

The transfer saga dragged on all summer and wasn’t resolved until transfer deadline day. A deal was finally struck with the clock ticking, Real would sign De Gea for £29million with Keylor Navas heading to Old Trafford.

But the clock struck 11pm and there was no word of the move being completed. The minutes and then hours ticked by without confirmation. News then emerged the deal was off and Real released a statement blaming United for failing to fax over the correct paperwork.

There was a swift response from the Red Devils, they claimed they weren’t to blame and it was an issue at Madrid’s end. Ultimately, whoever was to blame wasn’t important, the fact De Gea remained a Manchester United player was.

It was a test of character for the now Spain No 1. He could’ve sulked and moaned about not getting the move he wanted. Instead he was soon back in the United side and was producing match-winning performances.

He helped the Red Devils win the FA Cup in 2016 before League Cup and Europa League victories under Jose Mourinho in 2016-17.

De Gea’s workload under the Portuguese, who shares an agent, Jorge Mendes, with the goalkeeper, was expected to decrease following his arrival in the summer of 2016. That has been far from the case.

Mourinho has yet to establish an impregnable United defence. In fact, in several games, the Red Devils have been easier to cut through than at any stage under Van Gaal or Moyes. It has all led to De Gea having to bail out his team-mates on several occasions – the latest being his extraordinary display against Arsenal.

Make no mistake, it was De Gea that won the game for United. Jesse Lingard may have scored twice and Paul Pogba was influential before his red card, but without the Spaniard, showcasing the agility of a gymnast and reactions of a fighter pilot, United would’ve been beaten.

He made 14 saves, the joint-highest ever recorded by Opta for a Premier League goalkeeper in a single game. The most breathtaking was the double stop to deny first Alexandre Lacazette and then Alexis Sanchez.

De Gea is different to most keepers in that he almost prefers to make stops with his feet. He is redefining how a goalkeeper should save a ball, and coaches are now actively encouraging young goalkeepers to use the bottom half of their body to block efforts on goal as much as their hands.

It’s why De Gea is the world’s best. He isn’t just a goalkeeper, he is a revolutionary.