David de Gea reveals his enormous pride at reaching 400 appearances for Manchester United

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has spoken of his immense pride after making his 400th appearance for the Premier League giants.

The Spaniard, who joined from Atletico Madrid in 2011, reached the landmark during United’s disappointing 2-2 draw at home to Southampton on Monday night in the Premier League.

In the previous encounter away to Aston Villa, De Gea also surpassed Peter Schmeichel to become United’s record overseas appearance-maker.

De Gea spoke of his immense pride at reaching 400 appearances: ‘It’s something crazy’

But despite coming in for criticism in recent times for his performances while pressure is mounting on him from Dean Henderson for the No 1 spot, the 29-year-old is now ambitiously targeting another 400 games for the Old Trafford outfit. 

‘I’m very, very proud to reach 400 games,’ De Gea told United’s official website. ‘It’s something amazing just to be part of this club. 

‘It’s something crazy… imagine to reach 400 games… it’s something very, very special for me and hopefully I can play another 400 games and just enjoy things day by day and enjoy being part of this club. 

‘I just want to keep playing and enjoying training and enjoying being with my team-mates and the staff and everyone. I just enjoy wearing the Manchester United shirt in every game and to play at Old Trafford is always special.

‘I’m grateful to be here and hopefully I can be here for many years.’

The Spanish goalkeeper moved to Old Trafford from La Liga outfit Atletico Madrid back in 2011

During De Gea’s time at Old Trafford, he has won the Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and EFL Cup once each.

And the Spaniard will be desperate to add to his United trophy haul come the end of the season, while also helping his side claim a top-four finish in the Premier League.

United are into the quarter-finals of the Europa League and semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they will face Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday. 

But first up for De Gea and his United team-mates is Crystal Palace away in the Premier League on Thursday night.

After dropping costly points at home to Southampton on Monday, United must bounce back with a victory – as they sit four points off Chelsea in third, who have played a game more, while they are level on points with Leicester with just three matches remaining. 

United must put Monday’s disappointment behind them when they face Crystal Palace