David De Gea has very high standards and pushes everyone to be better, gushes Erik ten Hag

With David De Gea enduring a tough 2020/21 season, fans and critics clamoured to see Manchester United sign a new goalkeeper. However, then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer kept his faith in De Gea and while the Red Devils arguably had one of their worst seasons in modern football history, the Spaniard stepped up. The now 31-year-old thrived for the club and re-discovered his best form over the course of the season.

That has seen the Spaniard become United’s first-choice even under Erik ten Hag despite his limitations with the ball on his feet. De Gea is set to make his 500th appearance for the club soon, causing the Dutch manager to praise the goalkeeper and acknowledged the values the Spaniard offers alongside his talent and personality. Not only that, Ten Hag revealed that De Gea pushes himself to get better every day and pushes the team to do the same.

"It is fantastic. If you perform in 500 games for a club like Manchester United, that tells a lot about you. The talent, the personality – so that achievement is huge and I really reward that, I value that, and I want to congratulate him that," Ten Hag said, reported Goal.

"He has one of the highest standards. He is pushing everyone every time, and to himself he does what he can, he gives 100 per cent, but that is also what we expect from him – that is the demand. He is an experienced player, he is one of the leaders, so we have to show that to push the team, then you have to be the example by itself."