Tuesday, 27th May, 2014



Edwin van der Sar believes that David de Gea will become the future number one goalkeeper for the Spanish national team.

De Gea has been named in Spain’s World Cup squad that will travel to Brazil this summer.




The former Manchester United number one praised the 23-year-old’s strength of character in recovering from a difficult start to his career at Old Trafford to become their double Player of the Year this season.

"After a difficult start in his first year, David has developed himself brilliantly over the last three years and performed so well last season”, the 43-year-old told the club’s official site.

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The Dutchman is pleased that the Spaniard is travelling to Brazil this summer, but feels that Spain’s rich goalkeeping talent will keep the Manchester United number one away from the first eleven for the time being.

However, Van der Sar believes that De Gea will become an integral part of Spain’s national set-up in the near future.

"It’s great for him to be going to the World Cup. Of course, Spain have a fantastic amount of top goalkeepers. Victor [Valdes] has dropped out through injury but they have [Pepe] Reina and [Iker] Casillas, so there is still some good quality in front of David.

"But I’m sure that in the coming years he’ll play a big part in the Spanish side as well."

Manchester United paid £17.8m to Atletico Madrid in 2011 to sign the then 20-year-old goalkeeper. Since then, De Gea has become an integral part of the team and missed only one league game for the Red Devils this season.

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