Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha believes the best way for David de Gea to improve under Erik ten Hag is for the club to recruit a new goalkeeper this forthcoming summer and provide him with some competition.
Although he has racked up a very impressive 22 clean sheets in all competitions this season, question marks remain about De Gea's long-term suitability to the way Ten Hag wants United to play. The Spaniard's limitations with the ball at his feet were highlighted once again during last Thursday 3-0 defeat to Sevilla in the second-leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
De Gea, despite Harry Maguire asking for the ball, was guilty of playing the ball out to the centre-back when he was surrounded by Sevilla attackers, resulting in the pair of them gift-wrapping the La Liga side their opening goal. The former was then guilty of committing another mistake for Sevilla's third, attempting to control the ball with his feet outside of his penalty area and getting caught out.
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Prior to the defeat in Seville, Ten Hag described De Gea as being 'multi-functional', even though he has always faced criticism for his struggles in possession. Despite that concern, United still plan to tie the shot-stopper down to a new contract and extend his M16 career.
However, former United forward Saha, who played for the club between 2004 and 2008, insists the Reds must sign a new goalkeeper to give the Spaniard competition for a starting berth and to keep him on his toes.
"He shouldn't be Manchester United's guaranteed starting goalkeeper next season," Saha admitted, speaking to Betfred. "David needs improvement and he can still improve under Erik ten Hag, but he needs competition for that starting berth at United.
"He's not going to be playing for another ten years, so United need that competition for him now and he needs to be put under pressure.
"He needs to be a goalkeeper that can remain consistent over an entire season and if another goalkeeper was to come in, then maybe that would provide David with that pressure and give him the platform to improve."
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