Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits he sees potential greatness in David De Gea.

Ferguson is beaming over De Gea's progress this season after a poor start to his Old Trafford career.

"I expected David [De Gea] to make a contribution the minute he arrived at the club because our homework on the lad since he was a young kid has always been really positive. We always felt he was going to be top," insisted Ferguson to manutd.com.

"To get into the Atletico Madrid team at 18 and win the Europa League, you can't deny that performance level and ability. That is why we went for him.

"As we said at the time, even Peter Schmeichel found it difficult coming into the English game in his first few games. So did David. He made mistakes but we forgive that at 21. He doesn't have the experience Peter Schmeichel had. He was 27 when he joined us.

"De Gea is getting better with every game," added Sir Alex. "He kept us in the game at Blackburn [last Monday] with three fantastic saves. His form and maturity at the club is going to be key to us. He has been fantastic and his confidence is high."