Wish you were still here? Man United captain Bruno Fernandes meets up with booted-out goalkeeper David de Gea in Manchester amid £47m Andre Onana’s struggles, as fans urge the Spaniard to ‘come back in January’
- David de Gea left Manchester United in the summer after 12 years at the club
- He posted a selfie alongside Bruno Fernandes after United’s win at Bramall Lane
- Listen to the latest episode of the Mail Sport podcast ‘It all begins!’
The former and current Manchester United captains shared a selfie on social media on Sunday as David de Gea and Bruno Fernandes were reunited following the Red Devils’ 2-1 win over Sheffield United.
The Spaniard, who left Old Trafford as a free agent this summer to make way for £47m signing Andre Onana, took to Instagram to reveal he was still close to the current Red Devils captain.
Captioned the photo: “Together again,” he and Fernandes smiled as they hugged each other and wore matching shirts.
After lengthy contract negotiations with the club last season, De Gea decided against a drastic pay cut at Old Trafford and confirmed his departure to ‘seek a new challenge’, leaving the club after 12 years.
United spent several months in negotiations with De Gea, whose 190 clean sheets are a club record, but ultimately Erik ten Hag wanted a goalkeeper who was more adept with his feet and so moved to Onana in the summer.
David de Gea (left) and Bruno Fernandes (right) reunited as they posed for a selfie on Instagram
De Gea left Manchester United in the summer, ending his 12-year spell at the club
The club’s new goalkeeper Andre Onana has struggled with form since joining from Inter Milan
Onana is already under intense pressure at Old Trafford after making a series of costly mistakes in the opening months of the season.
Ten Hag admitted ahead of the win at Bramall Lane that Onana needs to ‘step up’ after a difficult start at Manchester United, but backed the Cameroon goalkeeper to overcome his early problems.
Onana has been criticized for a series of shaky performances and reached a low point in last month’s Champions League match against Bayern Munich when his costly blunder led to United’s defeat.
Even when Ten Hag’s side recorded a dramatic victory over Brentford a fortnight ago, the 27-year-old again came under fire for conceding Mathias Jensen’s opener.
And several Manchester United supporters took the opportunity to plead with De Gea to return in the wake of Onana’s poor run.
“Come back in January,” one fan eagerly wrote on Instagram.
Another said: ‘Yeeeeees! I wish we had you back at United!’
A third wrote: ‘Please come back to United Dave, we are sorry, on behalf of everyone at United.’
Some fans instead saw the photo as an opportunity to criticize Onana.
Erik ten Hag urged the Cameroonian stopper to ‘step up’ after making a string of bad mistakes
Fernandes helped United to a 2-1 win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday
“You are better than Onana, my friend,” one fan wrote in the comments.
A second added: “I bet you’re laughing at how rubbish Onana is, aren’t you?”
Shortly after De Gea confirmed his departure on social media this summer, Fernandes posted: “You deserved to say goodbye to the stadium with all the fans cheering you on for all the great memories.”
The Spaniard is still without a club heading into the January transfer window.
