'If Man Utd leave De Gea out, they could lose him forever' - Souness warns against dropping goalkeeper

If David de Gea is dropped by Manchester United, the club could lose their number one "forever" according to Graeme Souness.

De Gea spilled a simple Antonio Rudiger shot two minutes before half-time when United took on Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday to allow Marcos Alonso a close-range equaliser. 

The blunder came after mistakes against Barcelona and Manchester City also cost the Reds, and De Gea has now made three errors that have led to goals in his last four appearances.

But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted after the game that he was right not to drop De Gea against Chelsea , and Souness agrees it would be a mistake to remove the Spain international from the team. 

"You leave him out, I think you lose him forever," Souness said on Sky Sports .

"There would still be a queue for him. If Ole was to leave him out, and he brought in someone who didn't do well, you've then lost the guy you've trusted for seven, eight years. And you'd end up having to buy someone else.

"You've got to stick with him. Credit is a big thing in football. The supporters love him and you saw that at half-time."

Red Devils legend Gary Neville also believes De Gea should retain the number one spot, citing the 28-year-old's impressive form in recent seasons for United.

"There are some players who build up enough credit during their careers, that you play them through," Neville said.

"Let's say Wayne Rooney had a bad time – didn't score in 12 games for Manchester United. If he's had five, six years at the club playing like he has, you don't just ditch someone like that after five, six, seven games. It's not a young player coming into the club that's struggling. 

"He [De Gea] has been outstanding. He's been the best player at Manchester United, the only top player at Manchester United for the last five or six years."

The slip-up from De Gea cost his team a valuable two points that would have drawn them level with fourth-placed Chelsea, but they now remain three points adrift of the Champions League qualifications places with two games remaining.