'God Chose Him in Goal': Ander Herrera Labels David De Gea as 'By Far' the World's Best Goalkeeper

Ander Herrera has lauded David De Gea's "special abilities", which he believes are innate and cannot be taught.

De Gea was named in the PFA Team of the Year for a fifth time as well as winning Manchester United's player of the season award for a fourth season in the last five. Herrera's win last season was the only anomaly.

They have played alongside each other for United and for Spain, and Herrera believes that there is nobody better than his countryman.

“For me, David is the best by far,” he told The Big Interview. “I think he has something that comes from God – God chose him in the goal and chose Messi on the pitch.

“You cannot train what he did against Liverpool. You cannot train what he did against Kun Aguero when he was two metres in front of him and he put his hand out.

“He's really good - you can see when he receives the ball he knows always what to do. He has some special abilities that I think he hasn’t trained them, because you cannot train them, you just have them.”

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De Gea won the Premier League's Golden Glove award for most clean sheets for the first time this season, becoming the first Spaniard to win the award since Pepe Reina won it in three consecutive seasons for Liverpool between 2007 and 2009.

In his first season at United, Jose Mourinho revealed that he does not like it when a goalkeeper wins the player of the year award.

“'I think when a goalkeeper is a player of the season, it's because something is wrong,” said Mourinho. “Season after season, if the goalkeeper is player of the season, it means that something is wrong.”

Mourinho will hope to hold on to De Gea this summer amid renewed speculation of a move to Real Madrid.