Sunday will be a memorable day for David de Gea, who will make his 500th appearance for Manchester United if he features against Newcastle.
The Spaniard has spent just over 11 years at Old Trafford since arriving from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011. He was handed the huge job of filling the gloves of the recently-retired Edwin van der Sar, who had become a club legend at the Red Devils.
De Gea has been United's No.1 ever since, proving Sir Alex Ferguson's judgement to be spot on. The Scot actually missed an EFL Cup clash with Scunthorpe United to scout De Gea, following advice from former goalkeeper coach Eric Steele that he was the man to replace Van der Sar.
“I joined United in 2008 and, from that moment, we needed to be ready for the day Edwin van der Sar retired. I was convinced that a 19-year-old De Gea was the right man to replace him," Steele told the Daily Mail in 2017.
“I showed a three-minute DVD compilation to Sir Alex and then we went to watch him play for Atletico Madrid at Valencia on the night United played Scunthorpe in the League Cup. Sir Alex knew he was the right signing within 65 minutes.”
Steele had been sent to see De Gea on 20 separate occasions and Ferguson was also convinced after his own trip to Spain. That led to a £19million transfer to United in the summer of 2011.
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At first, though, he badly struggled to adapt to life in England, making glaring mistakes against Manchester City and West Brom. But with Ferguson continuing to back him, he bounced back in style, delivering a series of impressive performances.
In fact, he turned his form around so well that Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish joked, "I thought the press said the boy was struggling," after De Gea made a string of saves to secure a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
However, the Spaniard suffered a number of setbacks in the second half of the term, at one point even losing his starting spot. But he insisted that he would continue to fight to help United reclaim top spot in the Premier League.
"There have been doubts in the first season but I always had faith in my ability. The pressure at an elite club like United is huge but Ferguson just told me to do what I did at Atletico. You have to be as strong when things go wrong but I don't get nervous. Mistakes are normal; everyone makes them," he said.
United reclaimed their Premier League crown in style during De Gea's second season at Old Trafford, with the Spaniard also named in the PFA Team of the Year. De Gea lost his biggest backer in Ferguson at the end of the campaign as the Scot retired, but continued to keep his place under David Moyes.
It proved to be a difficult year for the Red Devils, with Moyes being sacked before the end of the season. But De Gea continued to impress, earning individual awards as the club's Players' Player of the Year and Fans' Player of the Year.
De Gea cemented his status as one of the Premier League's best keepers the following season, winning the Match of the Day 'save of the season' award. Former team-mate Gary Neville, who had been critical of the United star during his early years at the club, also hailed him.
"We are now seeing a huge improvement in his game and he is winning United match after match, which is what I expect from a United goalkeeper. He has now become a great goalkeeper," Neville said of De Gea in 2014.
The start of his 2015/2016 campaign was marred by a transfer saga surrounding a possible move to Real Madrid. The episode saw him left out of the United squad by Louis van Gaal, with an agreement being reached for De Gea to leave.
But in now-infamous fashion, the deal collapsed due to a faulty fax machine, with De Gea instead signing a new contract. After that, he quickly retook his place in the side, going on to again be named in the Team of the Year.
The high point of his United career came under Jose Mourinho, when he equalled the record for the most saves made in a Premier League match in his first season under the Portuguese boss. In Mourinho's second campaign, De Gea was a key cog in a hard-to-break-down side which secured a second-place finish in the table.
De Gea's performances that year meant he kept 18 clean sheets, seeing him win his first Premier League Golden Glove award. But from those heights, his time at United has gone downhill, with errors creeping into his game.
The downturn began in the 2018/2019 season, when he kept just seven clean sheets in 38 Premier League appearances. His dreadful run culminated in an infamous rant from Roy Keane in 2020, when De Gea made a poor error to allow Steven Bergwijn to score for Tottenham.
"I'm shocked at that goal. I've watched a lot of football over the years and I'm shocked at that goal. I am sick to death of this goalkeeper. I would be flying in at half time. I would be swinging punches at that guy," Keane told Sky Sports.
"This is a standard save for a standard, international goalkeeper. I am flabbergasted. There's got to be some stuff going on at half-time. [Harry] Maguire and De Gea, I wouldn't even let them on the bus after the game. Get a taxi back to Manchester."
The questions surrounding De Gea's status as No.1 have plagued him ever since, with Dean Henderson enjoying a spell as first-choice 'keeper in the 2020/2021 season. De Gea reclaimed his place following fitness setbacks for the Englishman and has kept it under Erik ten Hag this campaign.
But reports continue to swirl about his future, especially with his contract coming to an end next summer, while there is the option for United to extend it for another season. For now, though, De Gea will be celebrating his landmark appearance, becoming just the 11th player to reach 500 outings for United.
He will be presented with an engraved plate and specially-designed gloves in recognition of that achievement on Sunday. And De Gea admitted he had not expected to reach the landmark.
“I think it’s something crazy. To play 500 games for this club is very special for me, of course, but probably I will realise more when I stop playing football, when I retire and then look back and say, ‘Okay, I played more than 500 games for a massive club like United’," he told United's official website.
“I’m super proud and it’s amazing, to be honest. Just to be part of this club is massive and it’s so difficult to get here, so it’s a dream to be here and already play as much as I’ve played. It’s unbelievable.”
