MANCHESTER UNITED goalkeeper David de Gea has been on fine form for the Red Devils this season is not playing at the 2022 World Cup for Spain.
The 32-year-old has made 45 appearances for his national team and was once seen as one of the best goalkeepers in football.
However, he is not featuring for Luis Enrique’s side at the World Cup in Qatar as they prepare to face Germany.
And we have all the details regarding the reasoning behind De Gea not playing for his national team.
Why isn’t David de Gea playing for Spain?
De Gea was seen as Spain’s clear number one for years after the retirement of icon Iker Casillas.
However, this is not the case anymore as the Spaniard was not included in Enrique’s squad for the World Cup despite being the number one in the 2018 tournament.
The shot stopper hasn’t featured for Spain since a 1-0 loss to Ukraine on back in 2020 but was named in the Euro 2020 squad last summer.
However, Unai Simon was preferred ahead of him as the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper keeps his place ahead of De Gea for the World Cup.
De Gea wasn’t even included in a 55-man shortlist ahead of the final squad announcement as he fell out of favour with Enrique, who has outlined his preference in goal.
Speaking to the press earlier this year, Enrique said: “A goalkeeper should start the play and generate the first superiority, they must dominate the aerial play.
“I need a goalkeeper that transmits peace and calmness to me, that doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes, errors are part of football. What they generate I like a lot.”
It appears that De Gea does not match what Enrique is looking for in a goalkeeper and therefore is not in the World cup squad for the Spaniards.
