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David de Gea is so calm 'Any criticism goes off that quiff' and Peter Schmeichel did not have to mention him by name when suggesting goalkeeping has become 'cool'.

"It used to be for the mad guy, fat guy or the guy who couldn't use his feet," the former Manchester United great told L'Equipe.

"Kevin Pressman was the stereotype goalkeeper: the fat guy who couldn't use his feet. He couldn't run, but was good for stopping shots."

United tried to replace Schmeichel with a mad guy (Massimo Taibi), a fat guy (Andy Goram) and a guy who couldn't use his feet (Mark Bosnich) and it was only when Edwin van der Sar arrived, six years after Schemeichel 'retired from English football', that Sir Alex Ferguson settled on a successor.

Ferguson's hit-rate in the transfer market during his last decade in charge of United was poor. One genuine gem, though, was De Gea. Several United supporters pined for Manuel Neuer to succeed Van der Sar in 2011, others - bizarrely - argued his compatriot Rene Adler was superior. United coach Rene Meulensteen publicly championed Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Steklenburg.

De Gea was so raw in his penultimate season with Atletico Madrid he almost joined Wigan Athletic on loan until goalkeeper Roberto's injury triggered his ascension to the Rojoblancos' No.1 spot.

Ferguson and United goalkeeper Eric Steele skipped United's September 2010 League Cup tie at Scunthorpe to scout De Gea in Atletico's match at Valencia. Determined not to botch the passing of the guard like he had done in 1999 (United fielded 10 goalkeepers between Schmeichel's departure and Van der Sar's arrival), Ferguson was decisive and meticulous in his analysis of De Gea.

At £18.9m, De Gea was a bargain, and since he spectacularly denied Chelsea's Juan Mata in that see-saw 3-3 at Stamford Bridge in February 2012 he has improved so dramatically he is now credibly regarded as the best goalkeeper in world football.

De Gea's recovery from a 'lazy' first six months at United, when he made mistakes almost every other week, has enhanced his reputation. Ferguson's faith was tested so severely in those winter months he considered asking Van der Sar to re-emerge from retirement.

Neuer may have the Champions League and World Cup winner's medals, however he has begun to believe his own hype and his rush goalie shtick has become tiresome.

The German is not the revolutionary 'sweeper keeper' some football pseudos claim he is, rather a Barthez parody or, as Gary Neville might opine, he plays football like he's being controlled by a 10-year-old on a Playstation.

In the same weekend Neuer dropped a clanger Thibaut Courtois' hubris cost him at Hull.

De Gea is not only a brilliant goalkeeper but fun to watch, and he has an understated quality reminiscent of Iker Casillas in his pomp. Mata eloquently said 'at times it seems almost like it's unconscious'.

Neuer, like Schmeichel, demands to be seen and heard. Roy Keane described Schmeichel as a 'poser' in his 2002 autobiography and the Dane is unlikely to dispute that, and not just because Keane once headbutted him.

"He was probably doing it for concentration levels," Keane wrote in 2014. "But I felt he did it too often, as if he was telling the crowd: 'Look what I have to deal with'."

De Gea could have been forgiven for imitating him whenever Tyler Blackett or Jonny Evans started in front of him. His English is good now, but he expresses his authority with saves instead of soundbites.

Real Madrid will, probably, ensure De Gea doesn't usurp Schmeichel or Van der Sar in United's greatest goalkeepers list. Remarkably, though, the Spaniard's catalogue of great saves in less than four seasons already rival the seasoned duo, who spent a combined 14 years at Old Trafford.

Schmeichel's denials of Don Hutchison and John Barnes and Van der Sar thwarting Fabrice Muamba and Liedson are matched or bettered by De Gea's agile stops from Bryan Ruiz, Emanuele GiaccheriniBryan Oviedo. De Gea has also not had the benefit of great defensive combinations, unlike his predecessors.

United supporters should enjoy that quiff before it returns to Madrid.

See De Gea's 15 best United saves below