David de Gea says Manchester United are determined to upset the odds and wreck Manchester City's bid to match their historic Treble.
United and City meet in the first all-Manchester FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, with Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions looking to make history. Victory over United in the FA Cup will leave City only needing to beat Inter Milan in the Champions League final to match their local rivals' Treble of 1999.
But United goalkeeper De Gea said Erik ten Hag's side are ready to thwart City's bid by adding the FA Cup to the Carabao Cup they won back in February. "We know it’s a big final, a special game,” said De Gea.
“The whole year we’ve been fighting to be in the position to win titles and we will try absolutely everything to try to win. The improvement is there. Of course, we still have far to go, but it's a massive improvement from last season.”
United beat Fulham 2-1 on Sunday to finish the league campaign in third spot, securing an immediate return to the Champions League, as well as lifting a first trophy for six years.
"Winning a cup, finishing third, it’s never easy to finish in Champions League places in England,” said De Gea. “Then we have another final, a big final, so I think at the moment it's a great year.”
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Although United had already clinched a top-four spot before their final game of the season against Fulham, De Gea revealed there was no let-up from Ten Hag. "The manager wants us to be focused every game, to win every game,” said De Gea, who is out of contract next month and yet to agree a new deal.
"He was shouting before the game ‘come on guys, we have to finish properly, winning mentality'. We showed again at 1-0 down, but then we created chances and could have scored more than two.
"But like I say, it was a big way to finish the season with a victory and give enjoyment to the fans."
Success at Wembley would see Ten Hag end his debut season at United with a second piece of silverware, following their win over Newcastle in the Carabao Cup in February. That is the current focus, but the Dutchman is also acutely aware of the looming summer transfer window, which will take place amid the uncertainty caused by the protracted takeover saga.
“The club knows if you want to play top four and compete for trophies in this league, then you have to invest,” he said on Sunday.
“Otherwise you don’t have a chance, because other clubs will. We’ve seen it in the winter – all the clubs around us made huge investments. We didn't, but still we made it, so I’m proud of my team.”
