De Gea ‘still one of the best keepers in Europe’
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer is confident David de Gea can recover from his error that led to United’s Champions League elimination against RB Leipzig.
The Spaniard was accused of ‘bottling it’ by Reds legend Paul Scholes for Justin Kluivert’s winner that relegated them to the Europa League.
Solskjaer has stayed loyal to De Gea, 30, despite the return of Dean Henderson from a superb season on loan at Sheffield United and the 23-year-old made his full Premier League debut in last week’s win at West Ham. Henderson is desperate for a run as the January transfer window looms and could demand a mid-season loan move if he is not picked more regularly. But Solskjaer has backed De Gea again. “I think David’s a top goalkeeper, of course I do, and rightly so he’s on the lists of being the best goalkeeper in Europe,” Solskjaer said.
“He’s handled criticism before and setbacks before, he’s a man that we really rely on and, hopefully, he’s not affected by criticism and I don’t think he will be.
“Every goal a goalkeeper concedes you’ll be disappointed with. Of course, you want every player to play well and feel that they have competition and I have competition in every single position,” Solskjaer added.
“David knows that Dean Henderson is a fantastic keeper and Dean knows that David is fantastic keeper, so the two of them are fighting for one spot.
“This may be different for the outfielders, you can play in different positions. But as a manager you want all the players to feel that they have to perform to really move this team and myself forward.”