Manchester United's goalkeeper David De Gea could enter his name into the Premier League history books if he starts against Leeds United on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League.
The former Atletico Madrid youngster is poised to become the first non-British player and goalkeeper to make 400 Premier League appearances for one club. While the Spaniard, who signed as a 19-year-old in 2011 at the dusk of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign at Old Trafford, will be focused solely on getting maximum points with the team, his appearance will cement his place among the best players with commendable longevity.
There are several non-British players who have reached this milestone in the past, but with a variety of clubs. That list includes 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).
A further study carried out by The Times on Friday, according to manunited.com, details that David De Gea is currently behind Bert Trautmann (Manchester City from 1949 to 1963) and Bruce Grobbelaar (Liverpool from 1981 to 1994) for most Premier League appearances for one club by a foreign goalkeeper.
The 32-year-old Spaniard has already written his name into the Old Trafford history books after making it into the club's top ten all-time appearances. He can potentially join the 400 club, alongside former Manchester United captain and right back Gary Neville, on the Premier League's all-time appearance list.
Ashley Young (410), Nicky Butt (411), Andy Cole (414) and Teddy Sheringham (418), O'Shea (445), Michael Carrick (481), Wayne Rooney (491), Paul Scholes (499), Rio Ferdinand (504), Phil Neville (505) and Ryan Giggs (632) are the eleven former Manchester United players amongst the top 40 Premier League appearance table.
David De Gea also has Peter Schmeichel's all-time clean sheet record for Manchester United in his sights. The Spanish shotstopper needs two more clean sheets to equal Peter Schmeichel's legendary 180-clean sheet record for the Red Devils.
David De Gea is undoubtedly unplayable on his day; opponents need to pray he isn't in the mood when they face the Red Devils, or else you need to beat him before beating Manchester United.
He single-handedly took the team to a top-four finish under Louis Van Gaal and holds the record for the most saves recorded in a Premier League match (14). A record he created against Arsenal, on the top five saves list he occupies the first and second positions, and at second he sealed another record of (12) saves.
The Spaniard overcame a nightmare of poor form to return to the world beater he used to be between the sticks, although it was down to the team's general poor performance.
He is already acknowledged by a former United player as a legend at the club, but the 32-year-old is still following his day-one ambitions of longing to become a Man United great, and he seems to be getting closer to it with every match he starts for the club.
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