Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has revealed he considered leaving Old Trafford during a difficult start to his career at the Premier League club.
The 23-year-old was United’s key performer in their 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday and the Spaniard earned glowing reviews for the way he saved a Leighton Baines penalty and acrobatically denied Leon Osman and Bryan Oviedo.
“It was probably one of my best performances for Manchester United. I was really happy about that,” De Gea said.
“Games like that helps your confidence grow.”
But three years ago De Gea could barely muster a smile by the time he got home after matches.
His dream move from Atletico Madrid immediately turned into a nightmare when he was blamed for both goals in United’s narrow Community Shield win over Manchester City.
Errors followed against Basel and Benfica and De Gea also cost United points against West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers among others.
De Gea was struggling to bulk up to help him cope with the demands of playing in the Premier League and he was finding the move away from his family to a foreign country extremely difficult.
At times, the pressure proved too intense for the young goalkeeper, who had played less than two years’ worth of first-team football before he moved to Manchester.
“Sometimes,” De Gea said when asked whether he ever thought about leaving.
“It’s difficult when you get a lot of criticism like I did. But I kept strong and I always tried to remain positive.
“Those early days were difficult for me and my family. But when you play for a big club like Manchester United (being criticised) is normal when you don’t play well.”
Although he does not remember the early days of his fledgling career fondly, De Gea is glad he went through the experience as he feels it toughened him up and made him the goalkeeper he is today.
“What happened at the start helped me be the player and man I am now,” he said.
“When you have bad moments you have to improve. You have to become stronger to deal with it and I believe I have become stronger. I am much better now.”
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
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