Former Manchester United winger Lee Sharpe is backing Spanish shot-stopper David De Gea to continue as the club's first choice goalkeeper this season.
Ahead of the start of the new campaign, the battle for the No.1 spot at Old Trafford has been frequently debated, with both De Gea and Dean Henderson battling it out for the ultimate goalkeeping prize.
Having produced his fair share of questionable performances in the past couple of seasons, there have been several calls for De Gea to be replaced as the Reds' first-choice goalkeeper by Henderson, who is not lacking in Premier League experience between the sticks.
Although it is unfortunate on Henderson's part, De Gea's chances of laying down a marker at the start of this season have been helped by Henderson testing positive for Covid-19 a few weeks ago.
As the former Sheffield United loanee has struggled to get over the virus, he has not had the chance to prove himself to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during pre-season, meaning De Gea owns the gloves ahead of Saturday's Premier League opener against Leeds United.
And for Sharpe, who played for both United and Leeds in his playing days, De Gea deserves to continue operating as the club's first choice goalkeeper, insisting he remains one of the "world's best."
"They have an incredible depth of goalkeepers at Old Trafford but I still think De Gea is one of the world’s best," Sharpe told the Metro. "Yes, he’s had a couple of dodgy spells but I think every goalkeeper goes through that.
"I would still trust him to play any game that Ole picks him but I still think the other two goalkeepers will keep him on his toes.
"I think we’ve seen that Henderson is a top drawer keeper and well worthy of a No.1 spot.
"I think Ole would be getting paid the big money to make the big decisions. They are tough decisions because you don’t want to upset any of them and want to keep the confidence."
Last season, De Gea racked up 36 appearances for United in all competitions, whilst Henderson featured on 26 occasions. Whilst the rotation between the two of them was, at times, forced due to injury issues and other circumstances, Sharpe has stressed the importance of consistency being found in that area of the team, suggesting that Solskjaer needs to make a decision and stick with it.
The former United star added: "It’s difficult because the back four and goalkeeper rarely get changed because that’s the sort of consistency in a team that breeds success when you’ve got that stability at the back when they all know what they’re doing and who’s doing what.
"They’re very difficult positions to keep changing, but yeah that’s one of Ole’s toughest decisions to make this year."
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