Man Utd players with the most Premier League appearances

David de Gea reached a special landmark for Man Utd in their win over Leeds as he played his 400th Premier League game for the Red Devils.

Given the players to have played for Man Utd before, the success of their academy and the longevity of their time among the elite of English football, you would be forgiven for thinking the 400-game milestone has been reached more often than it has.

However, it is a very elite club, perhaps highlighted by those who have not made it.

Players who made nearly 400 games for Man Utd

The closest player to the Man Utd 400-club who didn’t quite make it is Wayne Rooney. That is surprising, although is also demonstrates how difficult a milestone it is to reach.

Rooney was a Manchester United player for nearly 13 years, and he managed to make 393 Premier League appearances in that time.

It’s quite a long way back to the next nearly man on the list. Roy Keane gave Man Utd 12 years service as a player, although he did suffer some serious injuries along the way. He still made 326 appearances for the club in the Premier League, though.

Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand made 316 and 312 respectively, with Denis Irwin next on the list.

Irwin actually only made 296 appearances for Man Utd in the Premier League, but that figure is skewd by the fact he was also a regular for the club before 1992. He made 72 appearances for Man Utd in the old First Division before the Premier League, so his real total is 368.

Six other players made more than 250 Premier League appearances for Man Utd. They are Patrice Evra (273), Nicky Butt (270), David Beckham (265), Phil Neville (263), John O’Shea (256) and Peter Schmeichel (252).

Players who have played 400 or more games for Man Utd

David de Gea made the list in the 2-0 Premier League win over Leeds – a match in which he also equalled the 178 clean sheets recorded by Peter Schmeichel.

That appearance also brought him level with Gary Neville, who reached that milestone against West Brom on New Year’s Day 2011 then decided at half-time while sat on the toilet to retire.

Paul Scholes enjoyed playing for Man Utd so much that he did it twice. He initially retired in May 2011 after making 466 Premier League appearances. However, In January 2012 he reversed that decision and came back. He played another 33 times in league for Man Utd to finish his career with 499 in total.

That only leaves one more, and it will shock no one to see Ryan Giggs firmly at the top of the list in terms of Premier League appearance-makers for Man Utd.

Giggs represented the Red Devils in 22 league campaigns between 1992 and 2014, amassing an astonishing 632 appearances in total.

Only Gareth Barry (652) can better that total in Premier League history.

Most Premier League appearances for Man Utd

* Denotes active players
Accurate as of 12 February, 2023.