(PLO) – Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has made Premier League history by becoming the first foreign player to make 400 appearances for a club in England.
Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea was named in the starting line-up of Manchester United in the 2-0 Premier League win over Leeds United on last night (February 12). And this helped De Gea go down in history in the top flight of England.
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De Gea became the first foreign player to play 400 Premier League matches for a single club. In history, apart from De Gea, there are only 8 foreign players who have played more than 400 matches in the Premier League, including Mark Schwarzer (514), Sylvain Distin (469), Brad Friedel (450), Shay Given (450), John O’Shea (445), Petr Cech (443), Jussi Jaaskelainen (436) and Richard Dunne (431). However, these eight players all played for many clubs in England, while De Gea only played for one club, MU.
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De Gea got off to a disappointing start at Manchester United. PHOTO: GETTY |
De Gea arrived in Manchester more than a decade before Sir Alex Ferguson brought him to Manchester United as a replacement for Edwin van der Sar. The Spaniard has had a difficult first Premier League season, with many questioning whether he can survive in the Premier League in a highly demanding team like United.
De Gea admits that the pressure put on him almost made him leave MU. But in the end, he stayed at the “theater of dreams” for the past 12 years and smashed his critics. De Gea overcame difficulties to maintain his position as the number 1 goalkeeper at Old Trafford for more than a decade.
During that time, De Gea won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League. De Gea has also been named in the PFA Team of the Year five times and has been named United’s Player of the Season four times.
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De Gea gradually became the mainstay of Man Utd for more than a decade. PHOTO: GETTY |
The 32-year-old Spanish goalkeeper currently has the same number of Premier League appearances as a MU legend, his former teammate Gary Neville. However, De Gea is still far behind Ryan Giggs’ record for most appearances by 232 matches.
De Gea also took a step closer to another MU record when he was only 2 matches short of Peter Schmeichel’s record of 180 clean sheets at the “reds”. On the record-setting day at MU and the Premier League, De Gea did not talk about himself, but only shared about the team as well as the return of captain Harry Maguire to the starting line-up.
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De Gea is happy that MU is on the right track and has hope of returning to its former glory. PHOTO: MUTV |
David De Gea said after the 2-0 win over Leeds United thanks to two late goals from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho: “I think you saw that at the end of the game, I think we deserved to win at home. (MU drew Leeds 2-2 at Old Trafford before that), but today we played a great game.
We knew what we needed to do to win the game so we did it, fighting to the end. Players like Harry Maguire haven’t played a lot, today they played great, the team is very strong. We are really, really happy.”
However, David de Gea’s future at MU remains a question mark with his current contract set to expire at the end of the season. The former Atletico Madrid player is one of MU’s highest earners and the “red devils” owners do not want to activate the 12-month contract extension clause with De Gea. Instead, they wanted to strike a new deal with him.
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Rashford constantly “shoots” to make teacher Ten Hag happy. PHOTO: REUTERS |
Speaking last week, David De Gea confidently affirmed that he would reach an agreement in negotiations with MU. “We’re still talking,” De Gea said. I’m just focused on the game, that’s the most important thing, but it’s definitely going to end well.
I went through very difficult times at MU. Now I’m enjoying it more. Everyone thinks the same way, plays the same way. Everyone’s spirit was great, everyone was fighting until the last minute, and everyone was ready to perform well coming on from the bench. It’s great to see the team play and perform well.”
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