David de Gea must be ranked alongside Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar as the greatest goalkeepers to have played for Manchester United.
That's the message from ex-United coach Rene Meulensteen, who enjoyed two spells at Old Trafford and was at the club when De Gea signed over a decade ago. De Gea made his 400th appearance in the Premier League during the 2-0 win over Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.
He marked the occasion with a clean sheet. However, there is no certainty the long-serving Spaniard will stay put beyond next summer, despite his brilliant form.
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De Gea, 32, only has a few months left to run on his current agreement, although talks have been held for him to extend his service into a 13th campaign and beyond. But whenever he does pull on the United gloves for the final time, where will De Gea rank alongside Schmeichel, Van der Sar and the others?
Speaking as a guest on radio station talkSPORT, former coach Meulensteen said: "I think that he is one of the best goalkeepers Manchester United have ever had. If you go back in times that you can remember, everyone will obviously talk about [Peter] Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar.
"David de Gea will be named in those three. Who is the better one of those three? Then it's probably down to personal opinion. He's done incredibly well for Manchester United. It's unbelievable we are talking about 400 appearances. Just fantastic."
Having progressed through the Atletico Madrid system, De Gea was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson before the 2011/2012 season and has clocked up 519 appearances for the club in all competitions since then. In featuring against Leeds, meanwhile, the Spaniard brought up his 400-game milestone in the Premier League.
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