Update: David de Gea receives support from two Man United players as three-word message issued News

Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea was in fine form for Florentina on Thursday night in the Europa Conference League.

David de Gea has received support from two former Manchester United teammates after his heroic performance for Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.

The goalkeeper departed Old Trafford at the conclusion of his contract in 2023 after making a club record 545 appearances in United’s colours and securing five major trophies since his arrival in 2011. Former Reds boss Erik ten Hag opted to replace the Spaniard with Andre Onana from Inter Milan, having previously worked with the keeper at Ajax.

De Gea was without a club for nearly a year before signing with Italian Serie A team Fiorentina last summer. The 34-year-old has so far made 32 appearances this season, achieving 10 clean sheets across all competitions.

And the Fiorentina keeper has sent a message on Instagram after making several good saves in his team’s 2-1 win at Celje. “One step closer,” he said.

De Gea’s post has been liked by two United players in Diogo Dalot and Antony in a show of support for his performance against the Slovenian team.

De Gea’s performance came on the night when his replacement at Old Trafford, Onana, had an error-strewn evening in United’s 2-2 draw at Lyon.

The Cameroonian was at fault for both of Lyon’s goals in the quarterfinal first-leg clash. It came after questionable comments from the goalkeeper in the build-up.

The Manchester Evening News reported in March that the former Inter Milan keeper intends to stay at United next season despite his struggling form. Reds boss Ruben Amorim defended Onana after the game in Lyon, insisting that he will not say anything to United’s under-pressure goalkeeper.

“It can happen,” Amorim said. “If you play football, you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes. If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and these last months. The other thing is we have one more game to change everything and that should be our focus.

“I don’t know (if Matic unsettled Onana), that can happen. The best thing is to look at the goals, all the actions that Andre had in the game, talk with (Jorge) Vital and Craig (Mawson), this is the best way to help any player. It’s to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve and then put the player in.

“I didn’t see [Onana], to be honest with you. I use these minutes to try to calm down, to come here to say the right things. It’s normal. I felt the dressing room was really quiet. We draw away, in Europe, that is always hard, but the team is suffering, we need to change that.

“Nothing. We have training, go with Vital and we deal with that. Really natural. That can happen with any player. There’s nothing I can say to Andre in this moment. The most important thing is to be natural and then, when the time comes, I will choose the best XI to play. But I’m really confident in Andre.”