David de Gea: ‘I hope we’re much better. It was embarrassing at times’

David de Gea walks into room 1104 at Perth’s Ritz-Carlton, surveys the cramped setting, raises a wry eyebrow and proceeds to hold forth on topics including ending his career at Manchester United, last season’s “embarrassment” and Sir Alex Ferguson’s advice after his decisive Europa League final shootout miss.

The chat with the goalkeeper is at the team hotel before the last friendly of the two-week tour of Thailand and Australia, against Aston Villa on Saturday, with Liverpool (4-0), Melbourne Victory (4-1) and Crystal Palace (3-1) having been beaten in the opening matches of Erik ten Hag’s tenure.

De Gea was signed by Ferguson in summer 2011 and is the only member of the touring party who has claimed the Premier League title. He has also won the FA Cup and League Cup, been United’s player of the year five times, and made 487 appearances.

On 31 August 2015 the 31-year-old would have moved to Real Madrid in a £29.3m transfer if a fax had arrived on time. But, now, De Gea is ready to sign on for United until he retires.

“Yeah, if it’s possible,” he says. “If they let me stay I will stay, for sure. I’m really comfortable, happy and hopefully before I leave we can win something more.”

De Gea has 12 months left on terms worth a basic wage of about £290,000 a week, with an option for a further 12 months. “I didn’t talk with anyone yet [about a renewal] but of course,” he says. “Because I want to be here for more years.”

Last season United finished sixth, 35 points behind Manchester City, with De Gea often an outspoken critic of the team. He says: “We cannot do the same because it was a disaster. I really hope we’re going to play much better. It was very tough, embarrassing sometimes. Some games were a mess. It was painful,