You’re a Man Utd superfan if you can name players missing from De Gea’s debut

YOU are a Manchester United superfan if you can remember the three players missing from David de Gea’s debut 12 years ago.

The Spanish goalkeeper confirmed his exit from the club on Saturday after his contract expired last week.

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However, how much do you remember from his debut in August 2011?

Three players have been removed from the above line-up from De Gea’s first match against Manchester City in the Community Shield.

United had found themselves 2-0 down at half-time against their cross-city rivals at Wembley Stadium before coming back to win.

One of the missing players scored to get Sir Alex Ferguson’s side back into the match before Nani equalised minutes later.

The Portuguese winger then equalised in the fourth minute of stoppage time to claim a dramatic victory.

Before scrolling to the answer can you identify the players removed from the line-up?

At right-back, Chris Smalling started for United and grabbed his side’s first goal of the match.

Smalling would make 323 appearances and move to centre-back before being sold to Roma in 2020 after a successful loan spell.

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He remains at the Italian club and has become an important player for the Serie A side.

In midfield, it was Anderson who lined up alongside Michael Carrick.

The Brazilian won the Champions League with United but departed in 2015, joining Internacional on a free transfer.

Anderson went on to finish his career in Turkey with Adana Demirspor, retiring in 2019 at the age of 31.

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The final player missing is academy graduate Danny Welbeck, who scored 29 goals in 142 appearances for the Red Devils.

Welbeck stayed at Old Trafford until 2014, when he was sold to Arsenal.

He has since had spells with Watford and Brighton & Hove Albion, where he is currently contracted until next summer.

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