Man Utd Transfers: 5 Greatest Foreign Imports

2. Peter Schmeichel Appearances: 398 Goals: 1 The 'Great Dane' was arguably the greatest United goalkeeper of the 20th century. To realise his importance you need only to view the correlation between his arrival and United's success, and the struggle Sir Alex Ferguson had to replace him after he left. In only his second season, United grasped the Premier League for the first time and never quite let go until after Schmeichel's departure in 1999. What followed was a series of goalkeepers; all considered failures to varying degrees. Bosnich, Taibi, Barthez, Howard, Carroll, Ricardo, just to name a few, all failed to successfully carry the mantle of what is surely one of the most difficult jobs in world football. It wasn't until the arrival of Edwin Van Der Sar in 2005 that people began to focus on other areas of the team to improve. Throughout his career, he was famed for his unorthodox, almost starfish like saves and the speed in which he came running out at on-rushing forwards. His sheer presence in the goal had a psychological effect on opponents, making them believe they would not score. Like Solskjaer, Schmeichel was also part of the side that captured the treble in 1999, the crowning moment in his illustrious career. Source: Telegraph