Peter Schmeichel: I was shocked to learn that de Gea won’t extend at United

Legendary Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel gave an interview to Canal+ TV about what it was like in the booth under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. He also mentioned his time in the jersey of city rivals Manchester City. The reaction to the departure of the Red Devils’ long-time number one was also interesting.

The Dane had been at Manchester United for 8 years. He came for 750,000 euros, a sum for which today’s clubs cannot even get a youth player from a lower league. He was 28 at the time and had just won the Danish league for the second year in a row with Brondby.

You could say that his move to England changed his whole career. If he had only played in Denmark, no doubt he wouldn’t have the name he has today.

During his time at Old Trafford he won the Premier League 5 times, the English Super Cup 4 times, the FA Cup once, and the European Super Cup once. His last game in a Red Devils jersey was the legendary Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

In the 90th minute Manchester were still 1-0 down, but after two corners Norwegian joker Ole Gunnar Solskjær turned the score around. At the age of thirty-five, he also won the club’s most important trophy. Among other things, he won the European title with Denmark in 1992.

Schmeichel doesn’t understand de Gea’s end

In the interview, the Canal+ editor gets to the departure of the Spanish goalkeeper through the topic around the United cabin. “I honestly don’t know what happened there, or what could happen there. It was obvious that both parties wanted to sign the contract. I have no idea why it didn’t happen. When I found out, I was shocked,” the Danish European champion began.

Throughout his time in Manchester, de Gea has been named player of the season several times, as more than once he has been the mainstay without which the entire team would have played far down the ranks. Above all, he had a big part in the 2021/22 season, guaranteeing at least a Europa League place.

Schmeichel continued: “De Gea was someone who spent 12 seasons at United, last season he had the most clean sheets in the whole Premier League, 5 times he was player of the season. It’s really very strange that all of a sudden he’s become someone who doesn’t have what it takes to be a Manchester United player anymore.”

What does he think of Onana and the club’s current form?

André Onana, the new signing and replacement for the Spaniard, possesses, above all, better footwork. It is this aspect that Hague lacked in the Spaniard. However, in recent matches it appears that de Gea probably had better other qualities than the Cameroonian.

“Onanu knows ten Hag, he fits his style. But things are not set up right at the club, something is affecting the team from the outside. When everything is sorted out, most players will play much better, Onana will be one of them, ” Schmeichel added on the subject of the goalkeeper.

In the last few days, information has been coming out of the United cabin about how some players are not happy with the treatment of ten Hag just with de Gea, Sancho or Ronaldo last season. Of course there are many problems at the club that the Dutch manager needs to fix, the leak from the cabin to the public is one of them.

The last topic that the whole interview contains is the end of Schmeichl’s career. Indeed, the Dane closed his career in 2003 after a season spent at city rivals Manchester City.

In fact, the Danish goalkeeper mentioned that he would never go to the rival of his former employer, in this context, the editor asked him what he meant, after all, he played for Manchester City. “At that time Manchester City was certainly not yet a rival of United. The Citizens were on completely different rungs than they are today,” Schmeichel replied.

Source: Canal+