David de Gea’s Italian Renaissance
After a year out of the game, David de Gea is loving life in Florence.
This is a guest article by Chirag Sharatkumar. Subscribe to Sideline Stories.
Florence is often thought of as the birthplace of the Renaissance and for good reason. It is where Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa; where Michelangelo sculpted David; where Botticelli portrayed Venus. It is a place that has historically turned ruin into renewal.
And today, deep in its footballing heart, it is where David de Gea is experiencing — crafting, actually — his very own renaissance. Smaller in scale and stature, and certainly in impact, compared to the grand achievements of old, but still fascinating. The former Manchester United goalkeeper, once heralded as the best in the world, has found a place for himself once again, this time among the Tuscan hills.
De Gea joined Fiorentina in the summer as a free agent following a year-long sabbatical. He arrived not through the front door as much as through a side entrance, quietly and without much fanfare. His departure from Man United a year ago had been a drawn-out saga where a contract renewal was offered, withdrawn, and then perhaps half-heartedly, offered again.
In the process, he was deemed important, inadequate and then finally, passable. Insult was added to injury and De Gea was not directly shown the door, though he didn’t need to be. A fallout with then-United boss Erik ten Hag saw him walk out of it all the same.
Twelve years, 545 appearances and countless heroic saves were reduced to a rather unceremonious end; his time at Old Trafford tarnished by a manager who demanded more and a club that gave less.
A year from football followed for a man who had at one point been indispensable but now seemed sadly unwanted. There was an expectation he would head out to Saudi Arabia, or Qatar, or even MLS, but there was no actual movement. Rumors of retirement surfaced and the end, it appeared, had arrived for the 34-year-old.
But Florence has a way of reviving what was once cast aside. At his presentation, De Gea spoke with gratitude and humility, and in Italian no less. “I am proud to wear the Viola shirt and to represent Florence,” he said. “I want to be part of the club’s history, help the young players, and have a winning mentality.”
His words resonated nicely with the fans. Here was a man who had nothing left to prove but something to reclaim. And four months in, it seems he already has.
Fiorentina coach, Raffaele Palladino, saw the potential. He didn’t ask De Gea to reinvent himself, to become a kind of goalkeeper he had never been but was told to be at Manchester United. There were no demands to build from the back, no insistence on threading line-breaking passes. De Gea was asked, and perhaps more importantly, simply trusted. Just do what you’ve always done best, David. Stop shots, make saves, win points.
And it is working. The Viola sit fourth in Serie A, just three points off Atalanta at the summit and with a game in hand. They are now unbeaten in their last 10 league matches, a run that has propelled them, though unlikely, into the title conversation. Last Sunday, Palladino’s side won their eighth consecutive game, a gritty 1-0 triumph over Cagliari that marked their longest winning streak since the 1960s.
And critical to their success has been De Gea, with six clean sheets so far. No goalkeeper in Italy has more since his debut in September. Fiorentina also boast the joint-best defensive record in the league, having conceded only 10 goals. The Spaniard leads the league in save percentage, ranks second in goals against per 90 minutes, and has restored calm to a Fiorentina defence that has looked vulnerable in recent years.
The numbers are impressive but they also speak to something more durable within De Gea, something resilient, that has allowed him to rediscover joy in a career that had turned sour. Few players return from a year-long hiatus, fewer still at 33, in one of football’s most unforgiving positions. Goalkeepers are rarely afforded the luxury of leniency; their mistakes linger long after any whistle is blown.
And De Gea has made his fair share of them. At United, his struggles with composure on the ball and cross-collection became a stick to beat him with. And they did. Modern football demanded more than he could give, and he became expendable.
In Florence, the expectations are different and so is he. One of his biggest highlights in purple so far are a pair of penalties kept out, among a barrage of other efforts, against Milan in October that set the tone for the Viola’s ongoing unbeaten run.
The Spaniard has often been regarded as one of, if not the best reflex shot-stoppers not only of his generation, but perhaps of all time. Towards the back end of his career at United, you couldn’t help but get the feeling that all the criticism led De Gea to lose trust in his instincts, the cornerstone of his success as a goalkeeper.
At Fiorentina, it looks like the trust is back. In his instincts and reflexes, but also in himself. These saves are not just barely seen off or luckily pushed away. They’re defiantly kept out, like the De Gea of old. De Gea’s 14-save man-of-the-match performance against Arsenal at the Emirates in 2017 still echoes in Premier League history as one of the greatest goalkeeping performances English football has ever seen.
But after a year away, few would have expected a resurgence like this. Many, including De Gea himself, believed retirement was on the cards. But the hunger resurfaced, and he spent his sabbatical training individually, first at non-league side Altrincham in Manchester and later at Las Rozas, the Spanish national team facility.
Padel helped maintain his fitness, but there is still a big jump from individual training to top-flight match fitness. As he often has, though, De Gea made even that leap seem quite effortless. He plays now like a man liberated, not by freedom but by clarity. There is a simplicity to his role here that feels refreshing in a sport obsessed with reinvention.
Palladino made a simple observation after his side’s 2-0 win over Como in November. “We have De Gea who’s making saves like a boy who’s 20.” It was both a compliment and a truth. He looks fitter, hungrier, happier too now. He may not be playing better, but he’s playing like he belongs.
His renaissance is not without flaws though. The weaknesses that plagued him at United have not vanished. He still looks uncomfortable on crosses, his distribution remains limited, and he is not the commanding sweeper-keeper that modern football demands. But now those shortcomings are secondary. His job is simpler: keep the ball out of the net. This, he assures, is no problem.
Florence is a city that knows the value of resurrection. And this season is not just a revival of form but of purpose. He has found purpose now just as he has found his place, beyond the suffocation of Manchester. The man who could save the Titanic has found a ship again, his ship, this time.
It may not be perfection. In fact, it isn’t even now, but it is something beautiful in its own right. More importantly, it is enough. And from a city that has given the world its fair share of masterpieces, it might even be art.
Very well written and appropriate accolades for De Gea.