David de Gea's honeymoon period at Fiorentina comes crashing down just three months into the season

Manchester United finally have their David de Gea successor in Senne Lammens, but for the Spaniard, his honeymoon period at Fiorentina has ended in brutal fashion.

Since leaving the club on a free transfer in a difficult moment where he even considered retiring from the game, David de Gea rediscovered his love for the game.

Fiorentina gave him a chance after a year out of football, and despite signing as the backup option initially, De Gea’s heroics for Fiorentina won him the first-choice position.

The 2025/26 season was the first he started at Fiorentina as their undisputed No. 1, but it has all gone so horribly wrong for the Man Utd legend.

David de Gea’s Fiorentina dream turning into a nightmare

From saving penalties for fun in Florence to becoming a leader of the club in quick time, De Gea was living the dream at Fiorentina.

He had earned fan-favourite status with his trademark unbelievable reflex saves, and even showed some skill with the ball, which haunted him at Old Trafford.

After a sixth-place finish in the league last season and a deep run in European competitions, Fiorentina were expected to kick on this season.

However, what has followed this season is a case of unmitigated disaster, becoming worse with every game, especially in the league.

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De Gea has started and played every minute of all ten league games so far, and his team is still searching for its first win.

Their record reads – 10 played, 4 drawn, 6 lost, conceding 16 goals in the process to mark a nightmare season.

Head coach Stefano Pioli is on the brink of being sacked with the club 19th in the league and in genuine danger of being relegated.

Fiorentina have surpassed even the most pessimistic expectations coming into the season, and De Gea has been caught up in the eye of the storm.

Italian press make De Gea point

Despite Fiorentina’s condition, De Gea has mostly been solid this season, and his efforts have not gone unnoticed in the Italian press.

Fiorentina were defeated 3-0 by Inter last week, and Gazzetta dello Sport gave De Gea credit, writing how the ‘super’ Spaniard “shattered” Inter for 60 minutes, before the dam ultimately broke.

He has fronted up to the press repeatedly despite being one of the players who don’t need to apologise, with Italian outlet Firenze e Dintorni carrying his quotes about how happy he is that he chose the club.

After their most recent lowest point of the season, a 0-1 defeat at home to Lecce, De Gea praised for keeping his side in the game.

Quotidiano Sportivo said De Gea’s saves kept Fiorentina level until ‘disaster struck’, through no fault of the goalkeeper.

Regardless of how much this season’s poor form is down to De Gea, the fact of the matter is that his dream has firmly turned into a nightmare, and relegation would be the worst ever season of his career.

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