5 Reasons Why Manchester United's David De Gea Would Be Ideal for Real Madrid

Real Madrid have been strongly linked to Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea as a long-term replacement for Iker Casillas.

Manu Sainz of AS reported in January that Madrid had identified the 24-year-old goalkeeper as their first choice to take over from Casillas.

Many words have been written and opinions expressed since then and while there has been no concrete movement towards a transfer, it does seem that at some point in the future Madrid will make a big push to secure De Gea’s signature.

Here are five reasons why De Gea would be an ideal fit for Real Madrid.

De Gea Is a Superb Shot-Stopper

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Over the years, it has been Iker Casillas' excellent reactions and shot-stopping abilities that have proved most valuable to Real Madrid.

And De Gea has shown himself to be similarly skilled in this regard during his time at Manchester United. Particularly so during the current campaign, in which he has made a number of crucial stops that have helped his team to draws or victories.

The latest display of his shot-stopping prowess came in United’s FA Cup defeat to Arsenal on Monday. During the second half, he produced a couple of superb reaction saves to deny Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez.

The latter was a truly outstanding stop, with De Gea just getting the merest of touches to the ball to divert it behind for a corner.

Such saves would soon see the Bernabeu faithful forget his beginnings across town at Atletico Madrid.

Quality Distribution

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Iker Casillas is a perfectly capable distributor of the ball with his feet, but De Gea is slightly better than the current Real Madrid custodian in this regard.

While, as per Squawka, Casillas has a slightly better overall distribution success rate (70 percent to 68 percent), this is offset by the fact De Gea generally distributes the ball over longer distances.

With the ball at their feet in open play, De Gea’s success rate of 44 percent (164 from 374 attempted passes), just trumps that of Casillas (41 percent; 67 from 164 attempted passes).

Madrid have missed Sergio Ramos’ ability to play long diagonal balls forward to the flanks during his recent injury absence, and it would be a clear advantage if they had a goalkeeper capable of providing similar deliveries.

Communcation Wouldn't Be a Problem

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De Gea struggled to communicate effectively with his defence during his early years at Manchester United. The language barrier and the imposing presence of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at the heart of the club's defence meant he was often unable or unwilling to assert his presence.

But he has improved enormously in this regard during his time in England and would return to Spain a far more confident communicator.

Madrid have very rarely looked outside of the Spanish-speaking world when selecting their goalkeepers. Bodo Illgner is the one obvious exception but otherwise, the club's most famous and successful custodians have all been Spanish.

Big clubs can rarely afford to give new signings, and especially goalkeepers, a lot of time to settle in; language problems are to be avoided if at all possible. In this regard, De Gea is someone who could slot straight into the Madrid starting XI and immediately strike up a good relationship with his defenders.

He Understands the Pressures of a Big Club

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De Gea was thrust straight into the Manchester United first team following his move from Atletico Madrid in 2011. It was a lot of responsibility for a 20-year-old to handle but after some initial struggles, he soon began to settle into his new environment.

In time, he began to thrive upon the pressure of being the last line of defence for one of Europe’s biggest clubs, as he explained to United Review (h/t Sky Sports) in 2012:

"

As a goalkeeper I am well aware that any mistake can be magnified by the press and the fans. That’s always the case for goalkeepers, no matter where you play. But it’s true that here at Manchester United there’s added pressure. It’s bigger than it was for me at Atletico Madrid and also for the Spain U21 team. It’s a challenge that’s enjoyable and it ensures you’re always striving to operate at 100 percent.

"

It could be argued the spotlight is even brighter at Real Madrid, with two sports dailies and numerous radio and television shows that constantly pick over the minute details of the team’s performances. The Bernabeu crowd can also be highly demanding.

But De Gea has a good grounding in dealing with high-pressure situations and should therefore be able to handle the degree of scrutiny that comes with being Real Madrid’s goalkeeper.

De Gea Is an Excellent Long-Term Option

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Iker Casillas has been Real Madrid’s first-choice goalkeeper for a large part of the last 16 years, and it is therefore natural the club would look to sign a successor who is capable of a long-term stretch between the posts.

That has usually been the Madrid way. Juanito Alonso, Miguel Angel and Francisco Buyo all spent at least 11 years at the club. Like Casillas, Alonso and Angel went on to captain the side during their final years in the capital.

De Gea would still be only 25 if he joined Madrid in the summer of 2016 and they could therefore expect to get at least seven or eight seasons out of him, given Casillas is himself now 33.

It is rare to find a goalkeeper of De Gea’s age who has already started more than 250 matches in all competitions, as per Soccerway. Young yet experienced, he would represent an excellent long-term option for Real Madrid.