Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic 'complained that Man Utd teammate wasn't good enough' to Sir Alex Ferguson but he proved everyone wrong

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic complained that their Manchester United teammate wasn't good enough, according to Patrice Evra – but he proved everyone wrong in the coming weeks, months and years.

Evra, who made 379 appearances for United across a trophy-laden eight-year spell, delivered a fascinating insight into his time at Old Trafford during an episode of The Overlap, brought to you Sky Bet.

Speaking alongside Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Roy Keane and Ian Wright, the Frenchman opened up on a number of subjects, including David de Gea's early days at the club following his £18.9 million move from Atletico Madrid.

Ferguson memorably missed a League Cup to watch him in action and personally selected him as the replacement for Edwin van der Sar, but the Spaniard struggled to adapt to English football and was targeted by the opposition on a regular basis.

According to Evra, United's centre-backs Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic even expressed their concerns to Ferguson about De Gea's lack of communication compared to Anders Lindegaard, who was the number two at the time.

"For me, the captain of the defence was Edwin van der Sar," Evra said. "The problem came when David de Gea came. I remember he didn't talk and Vidic and Rio, they were like: 'Okay, Anders [Lindegaard] is louder. So he needs to play.'

"We'd play one game with Anders, then one game with De Gea. And we said to the boss: 'You need to pick one, because this is making the defence fragile.'"

De Gea made mistakes but Ferguson ultimately stuck with him in a decision that was eventually justified. He won the club's Player of the Year award on four occasions and holds the record for the most clean sheets in United's history with 190.

Evra added: "I remember there was one game, De Gea was playing really bad. And he [Sir Alex] said to him: 'You know what, you are really s***'. But actually now you are going to play every game, you are going to be the number one. Because I believe in you. I trust you.'

"And that's when David de Gea started play. But Anders told me he was supposed to be the number one. And one training session before that game, he got injured. So that's why the boss had no choice but to go with De Gea."

David de Gea won eight trophies in his 12 years with Manchester United. (Image: Getty)

De Gea left United in 2023 and spent a year without a club before returning to football with Serie A side Fiorentina.