Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has admitted that he could have become a Wigan Athletic player before his big-money move to Old Trafford.
The Spaniard became a Red Devil ahead of the 2011/12 season following a successful spell with Atletico Madrid. Legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson elected to spend almost £19m on the stopper and despite a dicey first campaign with the club, he has gone on to become a consistent figure between the sticks at Old Trafford.
De Gea has accumulated 494 appearances for the club since, winning the Premier League, the Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup. However, the Red Devils might have been beaten to the punch by then Premier League rivals Wigan Athletic in 2009, with the Spaniard revealing he was previously in talks with the Latics.
Asked if it was true he was close to signing for the club by BT Sport’s What I Wore, De Gea replied: “Yes, that one [pointing to a Wigan Athletic shirt].
“Well I was in Atletico and it was the same season I made my debut and I was like the third keeper and not even count for the team much, just training. Nothing else.
“So Wigan got in contact with me just to sign for them and I was very, very close to sign for Wigan.”
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In the end, the now 31-year-old will be thankful he did not make the switch to the DW Stadium as he ended up making 35 appearances for Atletico Madrid during the 2009/10 season and actually scooped a Europa League winners’ medal. He remained as the Spanish side’s number one for the following campaign before sealing a switch to Old Trafford.
In the meantime, Wigan only remained in the Premier League for a further three seasons following their failure to sign De Gea and eventually ended up relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2012/13 campaign.
Since then, they have been bouncing between the second tier and League One - most recently earning promotion back into the Championship.
His failed move to Wigan over a decade ago would not be the first time that De Gea would see a transfer scuppered. He was infamously on the verge of a switch to Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2015, only to see a fax machine cost him what would have been a huge move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
De Gea remains the Red Devils’ number one to this day despite competition from the likes of summer arrival Martin Dubravka and Tom Heaton. He only has just a year remaining on his current contract and could potentially leave Old Trafford on a free transfer next summer.
