Manchester United must keep ‘fantastic’ De Gea at Old Trafford, says Gary Neville

 

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Star Man: United must keep De Gea, says Neville
Standard Sport15 December 2014

Gary Neville has urged Manchester United to ensure that David de Gea extends his stay at Old Trafford.

The Spaniard was once again in superb form at the weekend, deny both Raheem Sterling and Mario Balotelli during Manchester United’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford.

While Louis van Gaal became increasingly tetchy when quizzed on the goalkeeper’s long term future at the club, Old Trafford legend Neville is in no doubt whether the star shot stopper should be offered a new contract.

“He's winning Manchester United match after match, which is what I would expect from a Manchester United goalkeeper,” said Neville, on Sky Sports 1.

“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said it was a performance he had not seen in 15 years of going to Old Trafford and I would agree with him.

“He has now become a great goalkeeper, a fantastic goalkeeper.”

“Manchester United are ranked third in the league in the most errors leading to shots but in errors leading to goals they're the best in the league because their goalkeeper pulls them out of the mire every single time,” he continued.

“It's fantastic performances, great goalkeeping and Manchester United have got to get this lad signed up because he's a big, big player for them now.”

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“I'm measuring him against (Edwin) Van der Sar, (Peter) Schmeichel, David Seaman - probably the three best goalkeepers in Premier League history.

“We're seeing a huge improvement. He's always been a great shot stopper, he's been doing that since day one.

“Crosses (are) the part of his game that he still got that bit of improvement to do but if you look at the improvement he's made from where he was three years ago it is absolutely staggering.

“He caught 56 per cent of crosses in his first season, this season he is catching 91 per cent. That is what a Manchester United goalkeeper, one who is playing at a world class level, has to do.

“A goalkeeper should save seven or eight (one-on-ones) out of 10. They should save the majority of them. The best goalkeepers save the majority of their one-on-ones and this to me is his biggest change."

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