6. David de Gea (Man United)
De Gea, after proving himself a suitable successor to Edwin van der Sar, has become an outstanding keeper. Those who hadn’t witnessed his potential at Atletico Madrid before joining United in 2011, however, simply couldn’t see what it was that persuaded Sir Alex Ferguson to pay £18.3m for him.
Several factors combined to undermine De Gea’s introduction to English football: a notoriously slight physique, the collective decline of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, no previous experience of English football and the imposing challenge of being the goalkeeper of such a dominant team.
In early 2013, with the Spaniard yet to convince, United were repeatedly being linked with Asmir Begovic until a daunting Champions League trip to the Santiago Bernabeu in February proved his making. De Gea responded to significant pressure from Madrid to earn United a 1-1 draw that would have otherwise been well beyond them, and since then has consistently been one of the world’s finest goalkeepers.