Gary Neville has joined his former Manchester United teammate Peter Schmeichel in urging the club to retain the services of goalkeeper David de Gea.

Twenty-four-year-old De Gea's contract at Old Trafford is due to expire in the summer of 2016, which had resulted in reports that Real Madrid were preparing to make an offer for his services at the end of the season.

Speaking earlier today, Schmeichel described the Spaniard as United's current "best performer" - a statement that Neville has fully endorsed.

"De Gea is the player I would say Manchester United could least afford to sell. His improvement is enormous. In a Monday Night Football piece, a couple of years back, I pulled him up on his mistakes against Spurs, because I thought his errors would stop United winning the league. They had conceded 29 goals in 19 games," he wrote in The Telegraph.

"I see speculation that Real Madrid want to buy him for £25m. He would be the last person I would sell, as Manchester United manager, for any amount of money. After that Spurs game people remembered the criticism but failed to recall that I also said he could go on to be one of the world's best.

"He just needed to develop that physical maturity and decision making. Now, you wouldn't sell him at any price, and Manchester United should be looking to lock him down for the next five to seven years. He is winning games for them now."

De Gea has kept three clean sheets during his 12 Premier League outings this term.