Man Utd star set to make landmark appearance vs Newcastle

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is set to make his 500th appearance for the club this weekend, assuming he features against Newcastle United on Sunday.

The Spaniard is now in his 12th season at Old Trafford, having signed from boyhood Atletico Madrid in 2011 at the age of 20. Since then, he has established himself as a near-omnipresent member of United’s starting XI, and shows little sign of relinquishing his No.1 jersey in the immediate future. The 31-year-old is currently Erik ten Hag’s undisputed first choice, and has already featured 12 times across all competitions so far this season.

At present, De Gea is 11th in United’s list of record appearance makers, and has played more games than any other goalkeeper in the club’s history, apart from Alex Stepney. The other players to have featured more times are Ryan Giggs, Sir Bobby Charlton, Paul Scholes, William Foulkes, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Tony Dunne, Denis Irwin, and Joe Spence.

De Gea’s current deal with the Red Devils is due to expire in June of next year, although the club do have the option of extending his stay for a further 12 months, should they decide to exercise it. If they do so, the keeper will be in with a real chance of climbing even higher in the club’s list of all-time appearance makers.

Assuming he plays against Newcastle this weekend, De Gea will be just 10 appearances behind Spence, 29 behind Irwin, 35 behind Dunne, 39 behind Stepney, and 59 behind Rooney.