David de Gea has lost his form for Man Utd but Real Madrid move is still on

If David de Gea still read the Spanish sports press, a fan poll on Real Madrid goalkeepers might have caught his eye on Thursday.

Asked, in Diario AS, which goalkeeper they preferred 50.8 per cent of Real Madrid supporters voted for Thibaut Courtois and 49.2 per cent for Keylor Navas. Four years on from Iker Casillas' departure there is still no long-term undisputed heir – that was meant to be De Gea's destiny: following Casillas not just as Spain's No 1 but also as Real Madrid's.

It was 2015 when his move to Real Madrid fell at the final hour. Four years on he is neither goalkeeper at the Bernabeu nor Spain's ever-present No 1. He has been criticised by supporters of the national team who have been puzzled by his status as savior, season after season, at Old Trafford, and his deteriorating form on the international stage.

Now the Spanish sports pages record less than perfect performances for United as well. Diario AS's match report on Thursday said: 'Sane scored from Sterling's brilliant run and pass, with a shot that De Gea would definitely have had more chance of stopping had he tried to stop the ball with his hands and not with his feet.'

De Gea's playground style-ability to stop shots with his feet used to be considered a virtue now it's seen as his vice. When he uses his hands instead of his feet, things don't always go any better for him.

When he let Lionel Messi's tame shot squirm under his body at the Nou Camp in the Champions League quarter-final second leg last week the critics rounded on him for not being able to save well with his hands.

That Nou Camp mistake may haunt him for the rest of his career – the wrong place, the wrong time and the wrong rival to drop your biggest Champions League clanger – but for many in Spain it was merely a case of De Gea transforming country form to club.

De Gea endured a tough World Cup. The statistics did not read well. Spain were eliminated by Russia in the first knockout round and De Gea had made just one save from 12 shots received on target during the tournament.

Things had started badly. He made a mistake in the last friendly before the tournament against Switzerland. He then struggled against Portugal in the first group game.

His form was such that the journalists closest to interim coach Fernando Hierro speculated that he was thinking about dropping a player who for so long had been seen as the first name on the team-sheet.

The alternatives were not great. The veteran Pepe Reina was in the squad for his experience and his popularity among the players as much as for any likelihood that he would have to feature from the start in any of the games. And the No 2 Kepa Arrizabalaga had only played a handful of games as Athletic Bilbao's first choice. Chelsea made him their big summer signing but he had not done in enough in Spain to dislodge De Gea.

The speculation was still enough to force a comment from Hierro ahead of the second game against Iran. 'David is going to play tomorrow,' he said. 'We have full confidence in him, he is one of the best three goalkeepers in the world.'

He did stay in the team but things did not improve and he was criticised for being too passive in the penalty shoot-out that saw Spain eliminated.

The contrasts with Danish and Croatian keepers Danijel Subasic and Kasper Schmeichel were stark. Both saved three spot-kicks as Croatia knocked out Denmark to progress.

With Hierro's short reign as Spain coach now long passed De Gea remains first choice under Luis Enrique. But it's not a first-choice status set in stone. Kepa has played two of the last three games as the critics continue to ask what happened to De Gea? – the brilliant keeper that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez so wanted to replace Casillas.

Back at Madrid the No 1 jersey still doesn't have a definite owner going into next season. The club believe they pulled off a coup when they landed Courtois on the cheap having seen him run down his contract. They want it to work out and Perez favours him being first choice next season with Navas sold.

Zidane is a huge Keylor Navas fan. One of the reasons he walked away from the club last summer is because he did not agree with Courtois being brought in to replace Navas.

Could De Gea come in to replace both and make everyone at the Santiago Bernabeu happy? No, probably not because that would mean the club would have to sell not one but two keepers.

Long term maybe there is still a glimmer of hope that De Gea could end up where he seemed bound in 2015. First of all he needs to change minds in Spain by getting back the sort of form that once made them proud to boast they had the best goalkeeper in the premier league in their national side.