The Spaniard has matured into the Premier League's best goalkeeper.
If Manchester United do go on to mount an improbable title challenge, the form of David de Gea will go down as arguably the biggest factor in the club's resurgence.
The following video shows exactly why.
"He's winning Manchester United match after match, which is what I would expect from a Manchester United goalkeeper," said Gary Neville in this typically brilliant piece of analysis from last night's Monday Night Football.
David De Gea's improvement over last 3 years by mfsn1604
Jamie Carragher, meanwhile, had the unpleasant task of looking at the form of Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren.
Lovren recently found himself dropped after an error-strewn start to his Reds career, with his performance against United at the weekend coming in for particularly harsh criticism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZiYeQcaQXY
