Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has been named the Premier League s Player of the Month for January after a string of fine performances.
Spain international De Gea has been United s most consistent player this season by a considerable distance, returning to the heights he hit earlier in his Old Trafford career.
De Gea s form over the previous few years had been patchy at best, with Dean Henderson dislodging him as first-choice for a period last season.
He also lost his starting berth at international level with Spain. Since the start of 2019, he has started just seven games for La Roja and been on the bench 28 times.
But everything points to the De Gea of old being back, and January was as good an example as any month this season, as he became the first goalkeeper to win the prize since February 2016.
Although he only kept one clean sheet in four Premier League matches, no goalkeeper tallied more.
Had it not been for De Gea s heroics, United may not have come through January with just one defeat, as the 31-year-old made 22 saves – over the month, Alvaro Fernandez (17) was the only other goalkeeper to register more than 11.
According to Opta, De Gea s stops contributed to a league-leading goals prevented (excluding own goals) record of 2.6 in January, highlighting not only the crucial nature of his work but also the high standard of his saves.
Similarly, he boasted an 84 per cent save percentage – the only goalkeepers to play at last 180 minutes with better records were Jose Sa (84.6) and Martin Dubravka (88.9).
De Gea beat Jarrod Bowen, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Harrison, Joao Moutinho and James Ward-Prowse to claim the gong and is the second United player to win it this season after Cristiano Ronaldo in September.
