A year ago, David De Gea found himself without a club after being shown the exit door by Manchester United following the 2022/23 season. He spent an entire campaign on the sidelines, reportedly working hard to improve his game. Now, he’s making headlines in Serie A with his standout performances.
Fiorentina’s 2-1 win over Milan on Sunday could have had a very different outcome if not for De Gea’s heroics, saving two penalties. Milan stars Tammy Abraham and Theo Hernandez both missed their spot-kicks, denied by the Spanish goalkeeper.
Remarkably, during his 12 years at Old Trafford, De Gea managed to save just seven penalties.
Started in Spain, made in Manchester, loving it in Italy 💜 pic.twitter.com/kpvgMOygF7
— David de Gea (@D_DeGea) October 6, 2024
His departure from United saddened many Red Devils fans, but after a year in limbo, De Gea is thriving in Florence. Reflecting on his journey, which began at Atletico Madrid, De Gea took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Started in Spain, made in Manchester, loving it in Italy.”
He made 84 appearances for Atletico before cementing his legacy with 545 games for Manchester United.
However, when Erik ten Hag took over at United, he opted for a goalkeeper better suited to his style of play, which led to the signing of Andre Onana.
De Gea was the center of attention following a frantic match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, as he became the first goalkeeper in the Serie A to save two penalties in one game since 2016 — Federico Marchetti in a Lazio vs Capri match.
But De Gea wanted to focus on the win instead of his own individual brilliance, even thought he contributed immensely to it. “We have been working really hard for a couple of months, I’d prefer to talk about that more than the penalty saves… We wanted to make the fans happy,” he said to DAZN.
What a win 💜#FiorentinaMilan pic.twitter.com/4jPPDGrfDT
— ACF Fiorentina English (@ACFFiorentinaEN) October 6, 2024
“This victory is very important against a big club… We are working so hard and finally it is starting to pay off.”
Yacine Adli, on loan at Fiorentina from Milan, opened the scoring for the hosts, before Cristian Pulisic equalized 15 minutes into the second half. Unfortunately for the Rossoneri, Alfred Gudmundsson netted the decisive goal in the 73rd minute, sealing a 2-1 victory for Fiorentina.
