Football News: Comparison of 5 Top Goalkeepers in Europe That Manchester United Should Look At

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My comparison of 5 goalkeepers taken across the top leagues in Europe that Manchester United should take look at are: De Gea (for comparison purposes), Oblak, Donnarumma, Mendy and Benitez. (I aim to write about Central Midfielders / Attackers next time.)

Goals conceded (league) :
Start on a positive, if we do lose Dave the Save this year then we will also be losing a GK that conceded the most from this pool of players during the season. De Gea (39 in 24), Donnarumma (34 in 21), Mendy (33 in 23), Benitez (25 in 20) and Oblak (23 in 21).

Most saves:
De Gea made the most (106 - surprisingly given his poor 2nd half season form), Mendy a notable second with 87, the rest all very similar around 80.

Saves per game:
Oblak (3.61), Benitez (3.28), De Gea (2.72), Mendy (2.64) and Donnarumma (2.32). In terms of a shot stopper, Oblak is a damn good keeper and Benitez from Nice isn't bad either.

Claims success:
Mendy strongest here by a good margin, Oblak and Benitez joint second. De Gea a woeful last.

Punches:
Oblak the worst here and De Gea not much better. Donnarumma the winner in this category, Mendy second, Benitez third.

Distribution accuracy:
Donnarumma (88.22%) is very impressive here. Benitez (75.25%) second, De Gea 3rd (65.22%), Oblak (54.59%), Mendy (51.26%) .

Throw out success:
Mirrors the above stat in terms of ranking but Oblak last, Mendy 4th.

Passes completed:
Donnarumma (615) is a decent passer of the ball, Benitez second with 443, De Gea 3rd (379), Mendy (331), Oblak (231).

Clean sheets:
Oblak and Benitez joint 1st here with 13, Mendy with 11, Donnarumma 7, De Gea 4.

Summary:
None of us are going to judge De Gea's legacy on the basis of this season alone but knowing the qualities he possesses, he is worth mentioning in this comparison. Oblak, a keeper I think most of us would be happy with (or certainly before this report) is a top shot stopper but almost old school goalkeeper. His distribution is poor and depending on what Ole Gunnar Sol is looking for will certainly make Oblak the correct choice or completely wrong!

Donnarumma isn't as impressive as I thought he was, he is very young still, but compares poorly against the rest of the pool here. He is an asset given his ability to begin attacks and composed in terms of his distribution. However, he isn't the best shot stopper in Europe by some distance and we should want one who is.

Mendy and Benitez may seem surprising choices to some, but both are considered top goalkeepers in France. Lyon have looked at them both in recent years, but for me Benitez just edges it as the Goalkeeper (perhaps underrated) that Ole should be looking at if a more obvious option doesn't come off. He is a well rounded keeper who is still young enough in the position to improve. With a couple of decent Centre Backs in front of him he'd be solid.

Hope everyone enjoyed the read and the summary is purely my own interpretation of the stats. Feel free to shoot me down!

Best.

Written by KingGiggsy May 22 2019 18:42:58