Manchester United's David de Gea becomes 1st goalkeeper since 2016 to bag Premier League Player of the Month

Manchester United's David de Gea has been named the Premier League's Player of the Month for January 2022, becoming the first goalkeeper in six years to clinch the prestigious award. The 31-year-old Spaniard has made 22 saves across four games for the Old Trafford club, helping them move up into the 4th spot of the league table.

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Southampton's Fraser Forster was the last goalkeeper to win the prize back in February 2016. In 120 Premier League appearances for Southampton, Forster made 300 saves, had 39 clean sheets, and saved three penalties.

This is also the first time the 31-year-old De Gea bagged the Premier League's Player of the Month award in his 11-year spell at Manchester United. The goalkeeper topped a six-man January shortlist that featured West Ham's Jarrod Bowen, Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, Leeds United's Jack Harrison, Wolves' Joao Moutinho and Southampton's James Ward-Prowse.

Although De Gea kept just one clean sheet in January, he produced several stellar performances for the club in the last month. In United's 1-0 defeat against Wolves, the goalkeeper made a string of crucial saves to keep the Red Devil's hopes alive in the game before Joao Moutinho scored a crucial goal in the 82nd minute.

The Spaniard also made many excellent saves against Aston Villa. However, Steven Gerrard's side came from two goals down to get the point against Manchester United.

Against Brentford, De Gea was kept busy in the first half, who could have easily been a couple of goals up at the break, before the Red Devils scored three goals in the second half.

In United's 1-0 win over West Ham, the Spaniard kept a clean sheet to earn the Ralf Rangnick side three valuable points in the battle for the Champions League spots.

Although Manchester United have been enduring a tough Premier League season, De Gea has added immense value in their campaign so far, arguably being the most reliable performer at Old Trafford. Overall, the goalkeeper has the most saves in the Premier League this season. His total of 84 saves is 13 more than his nearest challenger Leeds United's Illan Meslier.