5 potential replacements for David de Gea at Manchester United

#4 Alex Meret (SSC Napoli)

Meret is a young goalie whose potential is frightening

Italy has always had great goalkeepers. At the head of the latest iteration stands AC Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma and Napoli's Alex Meret. While the former Udinese man's ascent has been nowhere as dramatic as Donnarumma's, his class has been obvious to most keen watchers of Serie A.

Spending last season on loan at SPAL (due to the presence of another excellent young Italian goalie in Simone Scuffet at Udinese), Meret was a huge factor in why the promoted side survived.

Quick off his line, agile and blessed with good reflexes and a keen understanding of the game, he pulled off save after save and was majestic for I Biancazzurri (The White-Blues)

He was linked to a lot of top Italian clubs including Juventus in the summer. However, it was Napoli who eventually got his signature in a €35m deal. Yet to feature for the Neapolitans due to a broken arm he suffered in pre-season training, the 21-year-old will be back in the team in January, then United scouts will have ample chances to watch him.

He is magnificent in the air, has great distribution and leads his defence in the manner of older, more experienced goalies. Meret would make a great long-term replacement for the wantaway De Gea and could even be better than the Spaniard in the future.