Man Utd must grasp the nettle and axe De Gea, says Keane

Manchester United must get a better goalkeeper than David de Gea if they want to challenge for the Premier League title, former captain Roy Keane has said.

Calls for De Gea to be dropped have grown since his mistakes in the FA Cup semi-final saw United beaten by Chelsea, and he spilled the ball again during Sunday’s 2-0 victory at Leicester City but recovered to deny Jamie Vardy.

Keane said he had “never been a big fan” of the Spaniard.

“He makes far too many mistakes, big mistakes that cost United big points,” Keane told Sky Sports.

“… If United want to challenge for league titles, they need a better goalkeeper. They need a change, they’ve done it before. I don’t know what the big song and dance is about a goalkeeper, United have been doing it for years.

“Strikers are dropped or sold, same with midfielders, but for some reason with goalkeepers they think we have to stick with the goalkeeper for a bit longer than others because of something they did two or three years ago.”

Keane pointed to how champions Liverpool had loaned German shotstopper Loris Karius to Besiktas and paid a then world-record fee for Brazilian Alisson.

“We’ve seen Liverpool get onto another level when they’ve improved the goalkeeper,” Keane added.

“What’s the big deal? If he (De Gea) isn’t doing it, he’s making mistakes, then make a change.

“There are good goalkeepers out there.”