It was Casillas' understudy David De Gea who was given the go-ahead in last night's final Euro 2016 qualifying match against Ukraine, and he more than proved his worth. Spanish media are now questioning if its time for De Gea to take the centre stage and replace Spain's prolific captain Iker Casillas.
It was clear that Real Madrid had set their sights on the Manchester United keeper and were willing to do everything in their power to get him, even though they were unsuccessful in the transfer. And remains obvious that there isn't a better player around to take the place of Casillas should he decide to retire early.
De Gea's fantastic display against Ukraine last night will cause Spain's coach Del Bosque to seriously wonder if the time has come to change the old guard. It was a night where the World Cup winning manager opted to field a more experimental side, but it was a game that saw De Gea make no less than 28 saves.
This performance has lead many Spanish papers to speculate his new first-team role: "De Gea strengthened his position within the team despite the safeguards of Casillas", commented 'El Pais'. While 'El Mundo' and 'ABC' took things further by saying, "De Gea is already incontestable", and "Does the keeper of Manchester United have to be the deputy to the keeper of Porto", respectively.
Only a few days ago, Casillas came out saying that he could potentially continue competing for a starting place with the Spanish national side for another two years giving "100-per-cent", however the amazing form of his counterpart could see his future cut considerably shorter.