David De Gea is progressing at Man United, insists Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar believes David De Gea is “progressing” at Manchester United after the Spaniard’s promising second season in the Premier League.

The 22-year-old United goalkeeper has nailed down the number one spot ahead of Anders Lindegaard after bouncing back from a shaky start to his Red Devils career following a £20m move from Atletico Madrid.

De Gea was heavily criticised for a strong of high-profile errors in his first season-and-a-half at United, but the Spain Under-21 international has been one of the club’s best players in recent months.

And the goalkeeper De Gea was bought to replace, Van der Sar, has been impressed by the youngster’s progress over the past year.

“I think De Gea is progressing. He had a fairly hard first year but he is getting used to that pace and showing the ability that made Sir Alex Ferguson sign him,” Van der Sar told the Daily Star.

“That is fantastic for the club and himself, of course. He makes a lot of saves with his feet – but so did I.

“He’s a good keeper and I think the environment at the club really helps new players. Some players take longer to adapt but after just one day it felt like a warm bath when I came in.”