David de Gea hints at a potential comeback to club football, 10 months after his release from Manchester United, by sharing a cryptic social media post.
The former Manchester United goalkeeper, who remains a free agent since his departure at the end of the 2022/23 season, has sparked rumors about his return with a suggestive message on social media. The 33-year-old has been linked to various clubs over the past months, but his high wage demands, previously £375,000 a week at United, have posed a challenge.
De Gea’s impressive record includes 545 appearances for United over 12 years, a Premier League title, an FA Cup, two Carabao Cups, and a Europa League win. Despite this, potential transfers to Newcastle and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Shabab didn’t materialize, leaving him to train independently.
Recently, there have been reports from Spain suggesting a possible move to Real Betis. De Gea added fuel to the fire by posting a photo of himself training on Instagram, accompanied by a Terminator GIF stating: “I’ll be back.” The photo appears to have been taken at Altrincham Town’s home ground, near Manchester.
De Gea, who regularly updates his 15.5 million Instagram followers since his exit from United, is clearly eager to return to club football, demonstrating his fitness and commitment.
A notable response to one of his training posts came from former United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, encouraging De Gea: “David, keep the faith and believe as I had something similar in 2001 and look what that brought me in the end!”
Despite feeling disheartened by his efforts to re-enter the sport, with some reports in January indicating he considered retirement, De Gea might find new opportunities in the summer transfer window, possibly in the Saudi Pro League.
He remains highly regarded, with pundit Graeme Souness criticizing United’s decision to replace him with Andre Onana, stating on talkSPORT: “De Gea was still a top goalkeeper. Every goalkeeper will make a mistake. They’ve spent £70m on a new goalkeeper, but are they really playing any differently now, just because Onana is better on the ball? That money should have been spent elsewhere and been more productive. The recruitment has been pre
tty average.”
