Manchester United’s David de Gea reached the milestone of 400 appearances in the Premier League on Sunday.
The goalkeeper, who moved to Old Trafford for around £19million from Atletico Madrid in 2011, has been the club’s No 1 since then.
All his appearances in English football have come with the Red Devils, with his landmark 400th coming in the clash against rivals Leeds United at Elland Road.
The Premier League’s official account tweeted: The first @ManUtd goalkeeper to reach 400 #PL appearances!
‘Congratulations on a landmark moment, D_DeGea,’ followed by a clapping emoji.
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has reached 400 Premier League appearances
The Spanish stopper, 32, achieves the milestone as he starts against Leeds United on Sunday
Iconic United goalkeepers from previous years like Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and Fabien Barthez all trail De Gea in the competition.
The 45-cap international is also the first non-British or Irish player to reach 400 Premier League appearances for one club.
Only five players outside Britain and Ireland have played more games: Mark Schwarzer (514), Sylvain Distin (469), Brad Friedel (450), Petr Cech (443), and Jussi Jaaskelainen (436).
Moreover, he is the youngest goalkeeper ever to reach 400 Premier League games, at the age of 32 years and 97 days, with Shay Given (33y 335d), David James (34y 287d), Cech (34y 358d), and Schwarzer (37y 172d) trailing him.
After the club’s 2-1 win against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, which saw Casemiro sent off for putting his hands around the neck of Eagles midfielder Will Hughes, De Gea backed January loan signing Marcel Sabitzer to step up in his absence.
He said: ‘We already lost Christian [Eriksen, to injury], now Casemiro, big players for us. But we have a bigger squad, players are ready to play, everyone is really focused.
‘Sabitzer showed already, he played 15 to 20 minutes and he did really well, made some good tackles, he is good with the ball and everyone is ready to play.’
The Austrian midfielder made a 16-minute cameo against Palace last week in his first appearance for the Manchester club.
source: dailymail.co.uk
