For all the progress that has been made at Manchester United this season under manager Erik ten Hag, the club's FA Cup final defeat to rivals Manchester City showcased that there is still much room for improvement if the Red Devils are to eventually challenge Pep Guardiola's men next season.
One key concern that has been exacerbated following that 2-1 loss is the future of United's goalkeeping ranks, with long-serving asset David De Gea having hardly covered himself in glory after failing to keep out Ilkay Gundogan's second-half strike.
As Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst stated, that inability to prevent what appeared to be a 'saveable' attempt on goal is merely yet another reason why the Spaniard 'needs moving on', despite having only recently claimed the Premier League's Golden Glove award after finishing with the most clean sheets in the division.
There has been talk that the 32-year-old is set to be offered a new deal this summer in order to extend his 12-year stay at Old Trafford, albeit with it somewhat telling that Ten Hag is reportedly offering no guarantees that the £375k-per-week man will remain as the first-choice pick.
With the former Atletico Madrid man's existing deal set to expire later this month, there have been suggestions that the club should simply bite the bullet and call time on his United career, with club legend Gary Neville stating last week that the Red Devils "do need to get rid of him either now or if they’ve not got the money then obviously a year later is the maximum".
As Neville alluded to, it remains to be seen if Ten Hag will have enough in the budget to able to acquire a suitable replacement for the 45-cap international, although even so, the former Ajax boss must surely avoid keeping his current number one out of just pure convenience.
Should De Gea leave this summer?
It does appear that the time has come for De Gea to seek out pastures new, with it no doubt set to be a real bonus to shift a player who takes up roughly 9% of the total wage bill – according to Caplology – representing the highest portion of any of his teammates.
Much of the grievances surrounding the 6 foot 4 stopper centre on his struggles on the ball, with treble-winner Paul Scholes stating that his former teammate "isn't the best footballer", as he notably finished the season with an average pass accuracy rate of just 68% in the league – a far worse record than City counterpart, Ederson (84%), for instance.
As his mistake against United's Manchester rivals at the weekend also showcased, De Gea is also not immune from the odd blunder with his hands either, having made two errors leading to goals in the Premier League in 2022/23.
The Madrid-born 'keeper notably allowed Said Benrahama's tame effort to squirm past him in the defeat to West Ham United last month, having also been bizarrely breached at his near post in the FA Cup win over Everton earlier this year, with Conor Coady ultimately tapping in from point-blank range.
There was also, of course, the grim night in Seville in the Europa League in which the towering asset gifted possession to Youssef En-Nesyri in the build-up to the game's third goal, having also failed to deal with a rather innocuous header from Loic Bade.
As for the recent clash with Guardiola and co, it was not the first time that De Gea has let the side down at Wembley, having also 'committed a howler' against Chelsea in the same competition at the semi-final stage in 2020, in the words of Luckhurst.
With the error-prone stopper evidently now a "big problem" for Ten Hag – according to pundit Jamie Carragher – the Dutchman must be ruthless and axe the title winner ahead of next season.