Man Utd Defender Puts David de Gea Ahead of Legendary Goalkeeper in 'Best in the World' Stakes

Manchester United defender Matteo Darmian believes that club-mate David de Gea is the best goalkeeper in the world right now, even placing the Old Trafford favourite ahead of international colleague and Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon.

It is high praise indeed from Darmian, who has been playing with Buffon for Italy since 2014, although he does also consider the 2006 World Cup winner as the 'greatest of all time'.

Claudio Villa/GettyImages

"I know David very well and I think, at this moment, he is the best goalkeeper in the world," the full-back told ManUtd.com, before describing a recent save to deny Jese of Stoke as 'incredible'.

"I think Gianluigi is the best goalkeeper of all time. He's also a good guy. So I am lucky to play with two goalkeepers like this," Darmian added.

"Of course, it's close. I don't know. I think David is the best goalkeeper in the world and Gianluigi is the best goalkeeper of all time. I think they are similar because they are very strong and they make very good saves. They also have good personalities."

Bob Levey/GettyImages

De Gea recently kept his 100th clean sheet in his 275th appearance for United in the recent Premier League win against Everton last month and has been making fine saves ever since he first arrived from Atletico Madrid as a fresh faced 20-year-old in 2011.

Like Darmian, fellow United defender Eric Bailly also sees De Gea as the world's best and is grateful for the confidence that feeds into the rest of the team.

"It's a good thing for us to have, in my opinion, the best goalkeeper in the world. That gives us so much more confidence going into a match," the Ivorian told United Review.

YURI KADOBNOV/GettyImages

"David is very, very, very important for everything we do. The goalkeeper instills confidence not just in the defenders but in the whole team, so that's why I think David is very important."