De Gea climbs United's clean sheets table

The situation has been monitored by Bailey in recent weeks, who tweeted his blessing for De Gea to surpass him ahead of the Premier League games against Wolves and Aston Villa, only to be left disappointed as the Reds conceded goals by both Midlands clubs.

However, Saturday's historic clean sheet against the Hammers means the Spaniard has now claimed third place outright on the list.

De Gea, who overtook Mark Hughes on the club's all-time appearances list when he played at Brentford, is now just 18 clean sheets short of equalling Peter Schmeichel’s club record of 180.

So far this season, our Spanish shot-stopper has achieved seven shut-outs - away to Wolves (1-0), Tottenham (3-0), Villarreal (2-0) and Norwich (1-0) and in the home games against Crystal Palace (1-0), Aston Villa (1-0, Emirates FA Cup) and now West Ham (1-0).

Ipswich-born Bailey spent nine years at United between 1978 and 1987, winning two FA Cups and one Charity Shield. He achieved 161 clean sheets for the Reds in 375 appearances, and is the second-highest Englishman on the list, with Alex Stepney occupying second place.

Stepney has an impressive total of 175 clean sheets, accumulated over the course of 539 games in his 13-year stint with the Reds. The 1966 signing from Chelsea won the League, the European Cup and an FA Cup before moving to the United States in 1979 to play for Dallas Tornadoes.

Arguably the club's greatest ever goalkeeper, Schmeichel achieved his total of 180 clean sheets in 398 appearances. The Denmark international helped the club to collect 15 trophies from his arrival in 1991, culminating in the Treble in his final season, 1998/99.

With De Gea still only 31 years old, it seems there's a good chance he will eventually surpass Schmeichel and top the list.

ALL-TIME MANCHESTER UNITED CLEAN SHEETS

1. Peter Schmeichel: 180 clean sheets / 398 appearances
2. Alex Stepney: 175 / 539
3. David De Gea: 162 / 469
4. Gary Bailey: 161 / 375
5. Edwin van der Sar: 135 / 266