Top 10 goalkeepers of the 2016/17 season

#6 David de Gea – Manchester United

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 30: David De Gea of Manchester United celebrates his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Swansea City at Old Trafford on April 30, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) — David de Gea has been United’s Titan between the sticks yet again

There will be plenty of Manchester United fans who’ll be shocked that David de Gea ranks so low in our Top 10 list, but it is important to know that it is for this season. The Spaniard’s quality is not in doubt – Real Madrid would be perfectly justified in making him the world’s most expensive goalkeeper of all time. However, De Gea’s numbers on paper do not make for impressive reading.

The reason ‘Saves-Per-Goal’ is a wonderful measure of a keeper is that defences of big teams let in fewer shots, which reduces the number of saves their keeper has to make. Conversely, a player like Pickford faces more shots, but concedes more goals. Saves-per-goal is a wonderful average than evens the field, and this is where De Gea falls woefully short, with a paltry 1.93 SPG season average, the worst of any goalkeeper in this list. Compared to last season, De Gea has made fewer saves, conceded more and had a worse distribution accuracy – which explains his plummet from 4th to 6th place.

Yet, what makes De Gea so valuable as a keeper is that he performs in the big moments of big games, with his best performances of the season coming against Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City. Performances like these stick out in the memory, and explains why De Gea made it into the PFA Team of the Year. It’s no wonder that the Red Devils are reluctant to let ‘Superman’ leave.