LEGENDARY MANCHESTER UNITED goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has fired an usually harsh criticism at his former club – by claiming that a Danish compatriot isn’t signed by the club isn’t up to scratch to play for them.

The famously red-nosed ‘keeper who left United after captaining them to Champions League success in 1999 told footie podcast Beyond The Pitch that he didn’t believe the reports stating Anders Lindegaard was set to join the club – rumours now confirmed by the club, who have agreed a provisional deal with the player.

We’re talking about Manchester United here. You can look at talent, you can look at young good players… you don’t want that [Lindegaard], you want someone who can go in straight away and give performances in 80% of the games that the number one choice goalkeeper will play for Manchester United.

He went on:

Too many goalkeepers have been through, in and out the doors at Manchester United, and the general perception is, for this team to play well and win trophies, that position has to be someone who is of the very, very highest quality – but also the right experience.

The comments are hardly likely to have gone down well with the new signing (26), who is understood to have been a boyhood Manchester United fan – precisely because Schmeichel, his idol, played for them.

He might take comfort in Michael Stensgaard, another former Danish international keeper, who told Goal.com that one of Anders’ best strengths was his ability to cope with mental pressure and criticism.

That could be diluted, though, because Stensgaard’s the new signing’s agent.

United consider the goalkeeping spot a priority to fill, with Edwin van der Sar turning 40 last month, and typo-heavy Tomasz Kuszczak expected to leave the club this summer having failed to fully settle – and having been overlooked in favour of Ben Amos (20) for some recent games.