It was a most unpromising start. David De Gea’s Manchester United career was only 36 minutes old when the goalkeeper allowed a tame shot from Shane Long to creep under his body. The young Spaniard’s blushes were ultimately spared with United winning 2-1 at The Hawthorns but that debut, in August 2011, set the tone for the error-strewn season – in fact, the chastening 18 months – that followed.

Looking back, it is easy to forget how bold a decision it was by Sir Alex Ferguson to ask a then shy and spindly 20-year-old, who had never played in England before and who did not speak the language, to fill the void left by Edwin van der Sar, one of the greatest goalkeepers of his