'So brilliant': Gary Lineker says Man Utd had a goalkeeper who was genuinely better than Gianluigi Buffon

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Gianluigi Buffon is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the game.

For Juventus and the Italian national team, Gianluigi Buffon was outstanding for several years — being a commanding presence in between the sticks with his world-class shotstopping ability and leadership at the back.

The retired goalkeeper is a true legend of the game whose tremendous career speaks for itself.

Manchester United, however, have had their fair share of elite goalkeepers, with names like Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and David De Gea rolling off the tongue.

However, Peter Schmeichel has a special place in the history of the game — winning five Premier League titles, the Champions League in a treble-winning season, four FA Cup trophies, the European Championship with Denmark and various other pieces of silverware.

Wayne Rooney lauded Peter Schmeichel’s personality in net as well as the decorated shotstopper made his name at United in particular from 1991 until 1999 — keeping 128 clean sheets in total in 310 Premier League appearances throughout the course of his time in England.

Peter Schmeichel named better than Gianluigi Buffon

Gary Lineker claimed Schmeichel was the best of the best in a game of ‘start, bench and sell’ that also included Buffon and Oliver Kahn.

Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast: Because I played against him so frequently, because he was so brilliant and because I still know him quite well, I’m going to go Peter Schmeichel. He was also an unbelievable goalkeeper.”

“Then I’m going to sell Gianluigi Buffon and sell Oliver Kahn because he made a mistake in the World Cup final [he joked].”

Alan Shearer added: “Yeah, I would have to start Peter as well, Buffon bench, sell Kahn.”

Micah Richards agreed: “Full house! I was going to say the same.”

It is difficult to decide which goalkeeper was truly superior, with both Peter Schmeichel and Gianluigi Buffon elevating the position to new heights.

Purely looking at clean sheets, Buffon had 429 in comparison to Schmeichel’s tally of 238.

However, the former Parma number one’s longevity is virtually incomparable.

Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sign Buffon at Manchester United

In March 2019, Rio Ferdinand asked Gianluigi Buffon on BT Sport (now TNT Sports) whether he had any offers from Premier League clubs in his career.

The World Cup winner revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sign him at Manchester United when he was a young prospect at Parma.

“Yes, when I was playing for Parma, Ferguson tracked me closely for two or three years and he’d always send scouts to watch me.”

However, Gianluigi Buffon revealed that he had no interest in leaving Parma to sign for Manchester United.

“At the time, Parma was my world and I didn’t feel like leaving.”

Buffon also revealed that Manchester City tried to sign him.

“Later, I had a big offer from Manchester City when they started to build the team and became the most important side in Europe. They wanted me to be the first signing but I stayed at Juve.”

If Sir Alex Ferguson had managed to sign Gianluigi Buffon as a young player, he too would have gone on to become a Premier League legend like Peter Schmeichel.