David de Gea has not been included in Luis Enrique’s latest Spain squad, with Brentford ‘keeper David Raya earning a surprise call-up.
De Gea has been one of the few shining lights in a miserable season for Manchester United, often keeping his side in games with his performances. It’s a dramatic return to form for the 31-year-old, who found himself ousted as No.1 by Dean Henderson last term.
But after Henderson missed the start of this season with Covid, the Spaniard has looked back to his imperious best, winning the Premier League Player of the Month in January. But in an experimental squad, De Gea has become the latest United player to miss out on selection.
On Thursday, England boss Gareth Southgate confirmed that forwards Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho would both not be included for this month’s friendlies with Switzerland and Ivory Coast. Both were vital members of the Three Lions squad in Euro 2020, with the pair missing penalties in the final against Italy against Wembley.
However, Sancho’s early-season struggles, along with Rashford’s loss of form in recent months has seen the pair miss out. And while De Gea’s omission may be more a case of squad rotation, it’s another blow for a United team dumped out of the Champions League in midweek.
De Gea had already lost the starting berth with the national team, after Athletic Bilbao stopper Unai Simon took the position during last summer’s European Championship. The United keeper has been on the bench during competitive matches in the months following the tournament and will now miss friendlies vs Albania and Iceland altogether.
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Instead, Brentford keeper David Raya, Brighton ’s Robert Sanchez and Unai Simon will battle it out to impress Enrique ahead of this winter’s World Cup in Qatar. It throws De Gea’s international future into doubt, missing out on a squad for the first time since before the last World Cup in 2018.
It caps off a thoroughly disappointing week for the United No.1, having been in goal as his club side crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid in midweek. De Gea spoke in blunt and honest terms about the elimination, which will confirm United’s longest trophy drought in more than a generation.
"As soon as they scored a goal, they put the whole team in front of Oblak," De Gea told BT Sport. "10 players there, very defensive team, it's very difficult to score goals against them.
"We tried until the end but it wasn't enough to score a goal. I don't want to say anything on the referee. I think everyone watched it. This is football, we didn't do enough.
"Of course, it's not good enough, it's hard. It's hard for the club, for us, for the fans. Where we are at the moment, it's a difficult situation and we need to keep fighting, keep trying our best, but it's a tough moment.”
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