Manchester United signing who made Sir Alex Ferguson call Gary Neville an 'idiot' now poses Erik ten Hag a key transfer question

It wasn’t the start David de Gea wanted. Within 13 minutes of his first Manchester United appearance he was picking the ball out of the net.

The venue was Soldier Field in Chicago and United, reigning Premier League champions, were in pre-season action in America. De Gea had arrived that summer, signed as the replacement for Edwin van der Sar.

They were big gloves to fill and United, who had gone through a succession of stoppers with varying degrees of success in trying to replace Peter Schmeichel, were keen to find a goalkeeper for the long term. De Gea arrived with a burgeoning reputation as one of the best young talents in Europe. And he showed his ability with two fine saves on debut, as he and United responded well to the early setback of going a goal down to secure a 3-1 win.

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Sir Alex Ferguson had placed faith in the then 20-year-old, missing a United Carabao Cup game with Scunthorpe to watch him in action for Atletico Madrid against Valencia. Convinced he had his man, Fergie stuck by him in spite of some troubled times early in his Old Trafford career.

“The only problem at the moment is that he doesn’t speak English," said the Scot after De Gea's Stateside debut. "We have got him working on certain calls and shouts with the defenders. He hasn’t got a great physique, he’s still tall and wiry but we will work on that.”

It was the physique that posed the greatest concern in De Gea’s early months in England and had plenty questioning the value of the £18.3million - at the time an English record for a goalkeeper. His debut against Manchester City in the Charity Shield saw him at fault for two goals as United won 3-2, while Shane Long scored with a soft long-range shot