Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera says fellow compatriot David de Gea is the best goalkeeper in the world, and that the Reds need to deliver more silverware in order to fend off interest from Real Madrid for his signature.
De Gea has been at United for over 6 years, developing into who many consider to be the best goalkeeper on the planet. Herrera, De Gea’s Spanish compatriot, rates him just as high – and says that the goalkeeper is understandably a big target of giants Real Madrid.
However, Herrera believes United can deliver the silverware necessary in order to keep their star man at the club and away from Madrid’s clutches.
“For me David is the number one. I train with him every day, I respect all the keepers like Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) and Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona) and everyone but David right now is the number one in the world,” said Herrera.
“We are going to enjoy having him here and try to keep him at the club for as long as possible. I think he wants to be a legend in the club which is important for us. If he is not a legend already he is not too far away from being one of the legends of the club.”
“Of course, I can see him staying here for more years. We need to win titles to keep him with us. That is what we did last season.”
“David is really happy at the moment because we are fighting for everything. We won three titles last season (Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League), and the FA Cup the year before and that is what he wants.”
“Real Madrid are going to talk about it every summer because he is the best keeper in the world. But we don’t think we are far from Real Madrid, we won three titles last season, the only English team to do it and we are going to fight for everything.”
“He is very calm and that is the thing that always surprises me the most about him. Even before he goes out onto the pitch he can talk about different things (other than the match) something I could never do,” added Herrera.
“But he is like that. He has that quality. It is a gift from God. He makes a difference. It makes a difference when you have a keeper who wins you points. He is one of the few keepers who can give you points.”
“I think he is in that position now where he intimidates strikers. He has been in the club six years and the first six months he told me were difficult for him but after that he has been the best.”
“We know how difficult it is for the keepers but David is always there. He makes some unbelievable saves. Even in training we end up laughing at times because we try to score and it is just impossible.”
“I just try to watch him and enjoy it. He is incredible.”
[Quotes via MEN]