Coach Benni McCarthy believes it would be a ‘crime’ for the club to lose goalkeeper David de Gea this summer.
The Spaniard has come in for criticism after a number of high-profile errors this season and is out of contract at Old Trafford at the end of the month.
While it is expected that De Gea, 32, will sign a new deal imminently, he may well face increased competition next season if Erik ten Hag buys another keeper.
South African McCarthy, brought in by Ten Hag to work with United’s attackers last July, has sprung to De Gea’s defence.
‘He kept 17 clean sheets in the league. Yes, of course you’re going to concede but to win the Golden Glove for yet another season is remarkable,’ he told 947 Joburg.
David de Gea has come in for criticism after making a series of mistakes this season
De Gea watches as Ilkay Gundogan’s shot beats him during Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat
Man United coach Benni McCarthy has sprung to the defence of the Spanish goalkeeper
‘You see how difficult the league is. I understand everyone has a bad game here and there but it doesn’t stop him being one of the best goalkeepers I have seen or worked with. He is unbelievable.
‘I get to see first hand more than what most people get to see. You see it only on a Saturday, you see a player make a mistake and the critics hit the roof.
‘But I get to spend every single day with him and he is an unbelievable guy, a great lad, very intelligent and one of the best goalkeepers I have seen.
‘It would be a crime if Man United lose a goalkeeper like David de Gea.’
De Gea’s clean sheet record, enough to win the Premier League Golden Glove award for the second time, helped United to a third-place finish and Champions League qualification in Ten Hag’s first season.
But De Gea was also culpable for poor errors in away defeats to Brentford and West Ham and was criticised for not reacting to Ilkay Gundogan’s winner for Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
An analysis by goalkeeping specialists suggested that a Premier League calibre stopper would have saved such a shot as Gundogan’s 81 per cent of the time.
Speaking ahead of the Cup final, Ten Hag hinted another keeper would be brought in to test De Gea.
De Gea won the Premier League Golden Glove award for keeping the most clean sheets
The Man United keeper was criticised for his slow reactions to Ilkay Gundogan’s volley
The Spanish goalkeeper couldn’t prevent Ilkay Gundogan’s shot from bobbling in the goal
Asked if De Gea will stay at United, he said: ‘Yes, but I will not say he’ll always be my No 1 because in a club like Man United there must be competition in all positions. You can’t do it with 11 players.
‘It is impossible. You need double positions.’
Roy Keane is a long-time critic of De Gea and Peter Schmeichel, United’s Treble-winning goalkeeper, had no sympathy when asked to analyse how Gundogan’s volley bounced twice and still crept in.
‘Look where he is in the goal,’ said the Dane.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, right, defended De Gea from criticism for City’s goal
‘I put myself in that position and I’m thinking, ‘OK what I have to do now is be right in the middle of this triangle’.
‘If he’s there, he gets a full hand to it. He’s a little bit too deep, he doesn’t follow the game.
‘There’s a rule as goalkeepers that you work so hard on, you work with that triangle, where the ball is, and you always have to be in the centre of that.
‘You have to follow the ball around and I think he didn’t do that. He should have done better, I was very surprised that it went in.’
