5 reasons why David de Gea is the greatest Manchester United goalkeeper of all time

#3 He grew with the team

Doubts lingered for a long time, but those were overcome quite superbly

When he came to the Manchester back in 2011, everyone was just waiting to see him fail. He wasn’t strong enough, he would flap at corners, he would make mistakes, everyone would pile on as he failed to burst out of the gate in his first few seasons. Many already declared him to be a bust.

But a beautiful butterfly hatched from the cocoon, as De Gea slowly won the hearts of the fans and the minds of the critics over. Sir Alex Ferguson kept faith with him, he worked on rounding out his skillset and his frame, eventually proving exactly why the club paid so much for him.

Players like Peter Schmeichel seemed superb from the start, while Edwin Van der Sar was a ready-made star. The Spaniard grew right in front of our eyes and seeing that struggle only highlights the excellence we see before us now.