New Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea reckons he can be even better than Edwin van der Sar.
De Gea's £18million move from Atletico Madrid to United was confirmed yesterday after he signed a five-year deal worth £75,000-a-week.
And after succeeding the retired Van der Sar, De Gea - who at 20 is half the Dutchman's age - vowed to outstrip his predecessor.
"In my opinion, Edwin has been the best goalkeeper in the world whilst here at United," said De Gea.
"I hope to emulate him and spend a great number of years here and hopefully equal or even surpass the performance and contribution he made to the club.
"I'm young but I'm coming here on the back of two full seasons in La Liga, so I think I've got enough experience to contribute to such a big club as United.
"The Premier League is known to be a more physical style of play than La Liga. There are a lot of high balls and a lot of play in the air but I hope to adapt to that fairly quickly.
"With my own style, I hope to contribute to it being an all-round success.
"Everybody wants to win the Premier League. I'd like to do that but I think also to aim to win the Champions League is realistic and that's what we're going to do."
De Gea said he was "proud" to have joined United and admitted he could not wait to make his debut, which is likely to be in Chicago on the champions' pre-season tour of the US.
Having played in Spain's European Under-21 Championship triumph last weekend, De Gea has been given an extended break by United.
He will join up with his new team-mates midway through their Stateside trip.
"I feel very proud and I can't wait to start playing here," said De Gea. "It's a great privilege to be part of a club like United and I'm keen to do my best and show what I can do.
"I'm excited about starting training and meeting my future team-mates.
"I want to get on and learn as much as I can about them and from them as possible and to start training."
The signing of De Gea has taken United's spending this summer to £50m, following the £32m outlay on Aston Villa's Ashley Young and Blackburn's Phil Jones.
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan