De Gea over Neuer one of Ferguson's biggest Man Utd mistakes

Stuart Telford

• 27 Apr 2022 11:15 CDT
• 5 min read

Alex Ferguson is the most decorated football manager in history, but he didn't get every decision right during his 26 years at Manchester United. Signing David de Gea over Manuel Neuer is one of his bigger clangers.

When Edwin van der Sar was hanging up his gloves in 2011, Man Utd's search for a new No.1 intensified. Ferguson was initially interested in taking a then-25-year-old Neuer from Schalke, but goalkeeping coach Eric Steele persuaded the Scot of De Gea, then of Atletico Madrid.

"Eric and I went out to watch him against Valencia away, and the things he'd been speaking about - his agility, his confidence, his speed - were evident. And Eric had been building a relationship with his parents, and was so adamant, that I had to trust him - and I'm glad I did, because he was right."

Was Ferguson right?

De Gea has certainly been a success at Man Utd, keeping 11 clean sheets as the Red Devils won the Premier League in Ferguson's final season at the club in 2013. He also added an FA Cup and UEFA Europa League post-Fergie and has made the PFA Team of the Year five times.

Neuer ended up at Bayern Munich instead, where he was won 10 Bundesliga titles and completed two continental trebles, in 2013 and 2020. He also backstopped Germany's triumphant FIFA World Cup campaign in 2014; the closest De Gea coming to international glory the UEFA Nations League runners-up spot Spain secured in 2021.

Granted, the Bundesliga doesn't boast the same level of unpredictability as the Premier League, but Neuer is also part of the reason that Bayern have been so dominant domestically, and if that trophy count alone means less, continental and international glory should also carry some weight.

Playing styles

But what about how De Gea and Neuer have won things? Stylistically, De Gea has been second-best here too. To this day, he boasts impressive shot-stopping, as his 112 saves in the Premier League this season - the second-most league-wide - attest. Neuer has saved 73 per cent of the shots on his goal, though; De Gea 69 per cent of the shots on his.

Let's say we account for a "Bundesliga tax" or put the difference in save percentages down to statistical noise, Neuer is still undoubtedly better with his feet than De Gea is. De Gea is in the bottom one per cent among goalkeepers for touches in the Premier League this season, while Neuer functions as an 11th outfield player for Bayern, in the 96th percentile for touches in the Bundesliga.

"When I first came to Manchester United, De Gea said, 'Tell me, am I better than Neuer?' Bastian Schweinsteiger said of his 2015 arrival at Old Trafford from Bayern Munich.

"I was like 'No, you're not. It is a different level.' He was angry, but I explained why. Whenever he had a great game he would ask me again, I would still say he wasn't on that level."

No context @Manuel_Neuer 😆 pic.twitter.com/GdCMFD2lEl

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) March 23, 2022

Place in history

Fast-forward seven years from then and De Gea is at a crossroads. He surrendered Spain's No.1 jersey to Unai Simon at UEFA Euro 2020, never to win it back, and he could be in the firing line at club level with Erik ten Hag arriving at Man Utd in the summer and looking to install a new style of football - one with a ball-playing goalkeeper.

Neuer remains captain for club and country, the indisputable captain whom not even Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen can dislodge for Germany. If he had been on the books at Old Trafford, there would be little worry about him being replaced, and perhaps more would have been won since Ferguson retired.

De Gea remains one of the better performers at United and is arguably a Premier League great. It may not be quite as bad as losing a peak Paul Gascoigne to Tottenham Hotspur over a house for his parents, but unlike either of the keepers in question, Fergie dropped the ball when we looked past Neuer.

Read more about: Bundesliga, Premier League, Bayern, Man Utd