Fiorentina goalkeeper David de Gea has sent a supportive message to one of his former Manchester United teammates.
David de Gea left Manchester United in the summer of 2023 after over a decade at the club and he initially took a year out of the sport.
After returning to action in 2024, De Gea joined Italian club Fiorentina and he returned to Old Trafford for a proper farewell during a pre-season game earlier this year.
The Spanish goalkeeper is one of the greatest shot-stoppers in United’s history and his final season with the club saw him win the Premier League Golden Glove.
His clean sheet record of 17 in the league that season was partly down to the brilliant defensive partnership of Lisandro Martínez and Raphaël Varane.
Varane has since retired from football and Martínez has recently returned for action at Untied after recovering from an ACL injury.
De Gea sends supportive message to United star
Martínez returned to the pitch for United last weekend against Crystal Palace, coming on as a second-half substitute during the 2-1 win.
His last appearance came against the Eagles towards the beginning of the year and it was a great moment to see him back in action.
The Argentine took to Instagram after the game to explain how he ‘suffered’ during his recovery and to thank those closest to him for helping him return.
“[A] long time not being able to do what I love most and what better way to return to the court with a very important win,” he wrote.
“They were months of suffering, uncertainty, anguish, imbalance… where the lack of energy was nothing to beat me, but I was lucky enough to count on my family, friends, teammates, fans, the club and the national team, to recharge the heart. Just thank you everyone.”
Many players flooded to the comments to support Martínez, including his former teammate De Gea, who simply wrote: “He’s back,” with a knife emoji.
How Martínez can help United
For United, the return of Martínez is a big boost even though Luke Shaw has been one of the better performers so far this term.
One thing that the Reds have been missing at the back is the passing range of the Argentine, with Shaw not often looking for incisive passes behind the opposition defence.
As Martínez showed in his assist for Amad against Manchester City last term, he has the quality to find those passes and help United break down teams.
With Bryan Mbeumo now in the frontline, making constant runs in behind, Martínez could help unlock a new attacking pattern for the Reds.
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