David de Gea has sent a clear message to Erik ten Hag as he fights for his Manchester United future - with the Spaniard insisting that he and his Old Trafford teammates "want" to control games and play out from the back.
De Gea has spent over a decade at the club and has won plenty of plaudits in recent years after impressing in a United side that has consistently struggled to live up to expectations. However, there has been constant speculation over the 32-year-old's future since Ten Hag's arrival.
The Dutchman was synonymous with a more expansive, attractive playing style during his trophy-laden tenure at Ajax and is eager for United to dictate games with the ball.
However, De Gea looked uncomfortable with that new approach in the early weeks of the Premier League season and there are still question marks over whether the veteran is capable of playing out from the back effectively.
But De Gea, who is in the last year of his contract, has come out swinging - insisting that everyone is on board with Ten Hag's new ideology.
“I think this year we want to dictate games and want the ball," De Gea told ANI, via Nord news. "We want to play from the back and press teams, press high in the opposition half. We try to keep the ball in the opposition half, try to score goals and win games."
De Gea was heavily criticised for his role in the thumping 4-0 defeat against Brentford earlier in the season, where he was directly at fault for two of the goals United gave away in west London.
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And although De Gea has improved in recent weeks, there has been no clarity over his long-term future at the club. His current deal expires in the summer - although there is a one-year option that Manchester United could trigger to keep De Gea at Old Trafford until the conclusion of the 2023/24 campaign.
It has been claimed that United would be open to keeping De Gea if he agrees to a significant wage cut, while other reports have claimed that Ten Hag is already courting other goalkeepers.
But De Gea isn't allowing speculation to distract him now that he and United are getting to grips with their new approach. He added: “The start of the season was a bit tough. After that we started playing excellent football, winning games.
"We had a new manager and new players, so we needed a little time to know how the coach want us to play, but I think we’re going in the right direction when we’re winning games and playing really well.”
