Manchester United signs David de Gea from Atletico Madrid

Posted on June 29, 2011 by SoccerPunter

He joins Phil Jones and Ashley Young in moving to Old Trafford to take Sir Alex Ferguson’s spending to £50 million this month.The 20-year-old passed a medical this week, having become a European Championship winner with Spain Under-21s last weekend.

He now has the responsibility of succeeding Edwin van der Sar as English champions United’s new number one following the veteran Dutchman’s retirement last month.

Although no fee was disclosed, reports have suggested United may have paid as much as 18 million pounds (US$29 million) for de Gea, pushing manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s pre-season spending to about 50 million pounds after Phil Jones and Ashley Young both arrived at Old Trafford earlier this month.

“I feel very proud and I can’t wait to start playing here,” said de Gea in an interview with MUTV, United’s in-house television station.

“When a club the size of Manchester United comes in for you it obviously makes you very, very happy.

“I saw their interest as an extra motivation to work even harder to show off my ability.

“It’s a great privilege to be part of a club like United and I’m keen to do my best and show what I can do.”

He joins Tomasz Kuszczak, Anders Lindegaard and Ben Amos as United’s squad goalkeepers.

De Gea won the Europa League and the European Super Cup with Atletico, but he is yet to win a senior cap for Spain with the tough competition of Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina and Victor Valdes ahead of him in the pecking order.