UTD Unscripted: Peter Schmeichel on David De Gea’s journey so far

So when we did move for him, I honestly couldn’t understand why we’d gone down that route. I thought the experience of what had happened between me and Edwin would have been used, so it looked unusual to me.

Then, of course, it didn’t go particularly well for him in his first couple of games and, suddenly, the press were all over him. He was the most written-about person in English football for six months. “What the hell are United doing?” and stuff like that, and it got worse and worse.

He was so bad, according to the media. A huge mistake.

But then he became so good, and I can tell you the moment that everything changed for David.

It was at Stamford Bridge in his first season. We’d gone 3-0 down and fought back to 3-3, and then, right at the end of the game, he clawed away a free-kick from Juan Mata, right in the top corner, and saved a point for us right at the end.

From that point on, I was looking at David and thinking: this guy… he’s something special. 

This guy’s mentality is incredible. 

You can’t break him.

That’s how you need to be when you’re in goal for Manchester United. You have to be as strong as anything. Any little mistake is a headline tomorrow. If you can’t deal with that, then it’ll break you. 

David? He went to a really tough school and came out the other side, in no time at all really.

I realised my thinking was wrong. And United were right. They’d done a really good job in bringing him to Manchester.