Former Manchester United winger Lee Sharpe has blasted Erik ten Hag for his handling of David de Gea’s departure after 11 years at the club. Ten Hag opted to replace the legendary Spaniard in his second season as United manager but has fielded criticism for how the changing of the guard took place.
De Gea left Old Trafford as a free agent in July following the expiry of his contract, with negotiations collapsing weeks before his exit.
Ten Hag reportedly wanted De Gea to accept a significant pay cut to remain at United, given he planned to replace him as his first-choice stopper after a mistake-prone end to the 2022/23 campaign.
Unsuccessful discussions led to the 32-year-old leaving without a fitting farewell to pay tribute to his memorable Red Devils career.
And Sharpe believes United went about De Gea’s exit the wrong way, considering everything he gave the club since joining under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011.
“The goalkeeper situation was a little bit shady, to be fair,” Sharpe, an American Golf ambassador, told Express Sport.
“The way that David de Gea was quietly ushered out the building after the years he’d put in and the years of being Player of the Year at the club, keeping the team in games…
“Being such a good goalkeeper over the number of years he’s been there, just to be ushered out and swept away was a little bit disappointing and surprising, the way he [Ten Hag] got rid of him pretty hastily.
“I know there was talk of him going for a while, but the way he left was a little bit unprofessional.”
Ten Hag replaced De Gea with Inter Milan’s Andre Onana, splashing £47million to reunite with the 27-year-old after their successful relationship at Ajax.
But Onana, brought in for his superior ball-playing ability, has suffered a poor start to life in Manchester, and Sharpe is unconvinced about his shot-stopping ability.
Sharpe said: “We’ve seen with Onana; he has been brought in for his outfield abilities, but with a goalkeeper, the first thing you need is for a goalkeeper to stop shots.
“Unfortunately, he’s made a couple of unforced errors, which have really put him under the spotlight and under pressure.
“He seems like the type of guy who’s got a strong character. I’m sure the manager knows enough about him to know he’s good enough for the club.
“He probably is good enough for a ball-playing goalkeeper, but it’s just whether he can keep the shots out and keep clean sheets, and he’s struggling to do that at the moment.”
