Manchester United legend: David de Gea can be as good as Peter Schmeichel

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Manchester United legend Paddy Crerand believes David de Gea could become as good as Peter Schmeichel.

Manchester United’s season is slowly ticking along, with Saturday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace taking them to within just two points of a top four spot.

Old Trafford is becoming a fortress again under Louis van Gaal, with just one home defeat to date – and that came on the opening day of the season against Swansea City.

New signings such as Luke Shaw, Angel Di Maria and Daley Blind have settled in fairly well at United, but the star of the show has been last season’s player of the year.

Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea endured a difficult first season at Old Trafford, struggling to command his area after arriving from Atletico Madrid, but has bounced back in style.

Last season, de Gea was the only bright spot in a dismal season for the Red Devils, and deservedly won the player of the year award for his displays.

With stunning saves throughout the season, particularly against Everton, de Gea has been United’s best player again this season, and club hero Paddy Crerand says that the 24-year-old could prove to be better than Peter Schmeichel.

“I remember when Schmeichel first came here, he struggled a little bit with crossed balls, but he got better as he got older and was an absolutely fantastic keeper for Manchester United,” said Crerand. “This kid [De Gea] could get there no problem.”

“He’s getting better and better. I remember when he first arrived – if you watch Spanish football, you never see balls being thrown into the box – so when he came here at first teams tried to make it as difficult as possible for him.”

“He must have found it strange but he’s improved out of all recognition – he doesn’t have any problems with that type of ball into the box any more.”

Schmeichel is widely considered as the best goalkeeper to have played for the club, and made almost 400 appearances in a stunning eight year spell with the club – if de Gea can match that record, he will have a great chance of being placed alongside Schmeichel as one of the best.