Sir Alex Ferguson bought a box of doughnuts for David de Gea after an alleged shoplifting incident early in the goalkeeper’s Manchester United career.

Goalkeeper had tough start to life at United
Was caught up in alleged shoplifting incident
Ferguson’s reaction pleasantly surprised him

WHAT HAPPENED? The Spain international was caught up in the controversial incident in 2011, shortly after he joined United from Atletico Madrid. The 32-year-old says it was all a misunderstanding, but the story was picked up by media around the world and had him worried about Ferguson’s reaction until he saw the former manager’s humorous reaction.

WHAT THEY SAID: “I went with one friend to buy something, to the market, and we saw some doughnuts,” he said on the club’s podcast. “We took the doughnuts and ate the doughnuts, and as we go to pay, I forget my wallet is in my car. So, I say let’s go to take the wallet from the car and we come back to pay for the things. I tried to get out of the market and there was a security guy there, my English was zero so I was trying to explain to the security guard to let me go to my car and take the money but he didn’t understand and I didn’t understand what he was saying, to be honest.

de gea

“The next day, it was everywhere in the world! I was saying: ‘What am I doing here?’ They put things about doughnuts in the media around the world! I said: ‘Come on, I cannot start my career here with this’. But that was just fine. The day after, I remember I was a bit scared, I said: ‘Come on, the manager is going to say something to me’. So, the next morning, I came to the training ground, and he came with a box of doughnuts to give to me, so the manager was fine and happy as well. It was a funny thing.”
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THE BIGGER PICTURE: De Gea’s had a difficult start to life at Old Trafford and faced some criticism for his performances on the field, while the stories about the supposed doughnut theft did not help his image. He soon became a star player for the Red Devils, however, and has made 507 competitive appearances for them overall.

Sir Alex Ferguson Man Utd

WHAT NEXT FOR DE GEA? After missing out on Spain’s World Cup campaign, De Gea will be back on the field on December 21 when United meet Burnley in the Carabao Cup.