By Luke Reddy
26 May 2011 10:30:00
David De Gea, Atletico de Madrid, Barcelona (Getty Images)
Related Links
Teams
Players
Edwin van der Sar will be passing on Manchester United‘s No.1 shirt to a worthy candidate in Atletico Madrid‘s David de Gea, according to Real Madrid and Spain captain Iker Casillas.
Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that the Atletico Madrid keeper is set to join United this summer as a replacement for the retiring Van der Sar, despite the La Liga club claiming nothing is yet in place, and Casillas expects to quickly be put under pressure for his international place by the 20-year-old.
“He will soon be fighting for my place. He’s a great keeper,” Casillas told The Sun.
“We have to take care of him because he is the future. He is 20 years old. He will pension us all off.
“I hope he does great things for his club and the Spanish national team.”
De Gea rose to prominence with Atletico in the Spanish capital at the age of 18 and quickly cemented his place in the first-team, something Casillas also had to do at Real Madrid.
“He will learn a lot from the fact he has started so young. I had it as well,” added the Spain international.
“The people of Atletico Madrid have to be so proud that such a great keeper has come out of their academy.
“Everyone has seen what he’s been doing and praising his performances. Watching him reminds me a lot of when I started 12 years ago.
“Between us all, we have to look after him. He has a long road in front of him and when he least expects it he will get a call-up to the national team.
“I’m not suddenly discovering De Gea now everyone has seen what he is capable of doing. He’s a good professional and a great person and that for me is very important.”
Meanwhile, De Gea has hailed Casillas as the best goalkeeper in the world, saying: “I think not just for me but for many keepers, he’s a point of reference and an example to follow.
“He has incredible qualities and right now he’s the best keeper in the world.”
Read the original:
Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas insists Manchester United-bound David de Gea will be pushing for Spain No.1 spot soon