David de Gea is ready to make his first United appearance in the Tour 2011 match against Chicago Fire on Saturday, with praise from goalkeeping coach Eric Steele ringing in his ears.
Steele has been explaining why the champions opted for the Spaniard when scouring the globe for a long-term replacement for Edwin van der Sar. De Gea is in line to play at Chicago Field after training with his new team-mates in the United States.
"He's just a unique talent," said Steele, in an exclusive interview to be screened on MUTV this weekend. "Ultimately, I think they come around in cycles. Iker Casillas was 17 when he got in the Real Madrid team, I saw Gianluigi Buffon play in Scotland when he was 17.
"I first watched de Gea when he was representing Spain four years ago, before I was even associated with the club and it's just something that you tick the box and say 'one to look at'. So my first contact was when I saw him at the Euro Under-17s which Spain happened to win. He's suited to the way that we play and the way that we want to play."
Chicago Fire vs Manchester United kicks off at 16:00 local time (CDT, six hours behind UK) on Saturday 23 July. The match will be shown live in the UK and Ireland on MUTV and worldwide - with a few exclusions - on MUTV Online.
