Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand has compared his former team-mate David de Gea to Kepa Arrizabalaga after a piece of analysis on the Chelsea goalkeeper.
Ferdinand was in the BT Sport studio when he was asked to talk about Kepa, a 25-year-old Spanish international who is enduring somewhat of an indifferent 2019/20 campaign.
The Spaniard's form reminded him of the way De Gea initially struggled in his early years at Old Trafford.
The 29-year-old signed at United from Atletico Madrid way back in 2011 and started becoming a regular for the Reds straight away.
Ferdinand was still a stalwart of the United defence back then and he remembers opposition teams targeting De Gea.
Ferdinand recalled how it was his defensive partner at the time, Nemanja Vidic, who really helped De Gea find his fight at United and blossom into the top keeper he is today.
“In the early stages, I knew teams were targeting him. You could hear teams saying put it on the goalkeeper, team talks were all about David De Gea at that time and you were concerned for him," Ferdinand told BT Sport ahead of Arsenal's clash at home to Chelsea this evening.
“But then it is the responsibility of other people to get you out the muck. Nemanja Vidic, for example, was very good in the air and attacking balls from set-pieces. He’d go and take responsibility out of the goalkeepers hands.”
