Manchester United have always had difficulties in replacing club legends. To this day they are still struggling in certain areas of the pitch to replace players who have long gone.
Goalkeepers have been a bone of contention for the Red Devils and they have seen their fair share come and go.
The arrival of Peter Schmeichel saw Sir Alex Ferguson finally steady the United ship in the shot-stopper department.
Then replacing Schmeichel took several years and a good handful of what were considered top-class keepers.
Only Fabian Barthez showed glimpses of potentially filling those gloves. Although he was a World Cup winner he always seemed just a tad short of being great in Manchester.
Finally, Edwin van Der Sar arrived and took control of the penalty area and manhandled the defense to keep the backline in order.
However, it wasn’t long before the giant Dutchman was hanging up his gloves and Sir Alex was hunting a new number one.
He opted for youth in 20-year-old David De Gea back in 2011. Treble winning keeper Peter Schmeichel disapproved of the choice but admits now he probably got it wrong and his old boss was right all along.
Speaking to the club’s official website he admits De Gea showed he was the right man for the job, even after a tough start.
He said: “I thought Manuel Neuer was a perfect fit for us. Of course, I knew about David de Gea.”
“So when we did move for him, I honestly couldn’t understand why we’d gone down that route.”
The great Dane admits though he was wrong and credits De Gea’s mental toughness.
He continued: “This guy’s mentality is incredible. You can’t break him’. That’s how you need to be when you’re in goal for Manchester United. You have to be as strong as anything.”
“I realized my thinking was wrong. And United was right. They’d done a really good job in bringing him to Manchester.”
