David De Gea sets new record of playing most minutes Premier League history

David De Gea most minutes in Premier League history
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the 19th minute of Manchester United's 3-1 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday, David De Gea set a new Premier League record - and this time, it wasn't to do with the amount of saves he had made in a match, or how many one-on-ones in a game he managed to stop the attacker from scoring in. 

No, on November 6, 2022, the Spanish goalkeeper became the player to have featured in the most Premier League minutes in history, overtaking Ben Foster at the top of the leaderboard. 

De Gea ended the match having played 35,039 minutes in total, leaving former West Brom and Watford keeper Foster in second place with 34,959 minutes during his career.

The Manchester United goalkeeper made his Premier League debut in August 2011 against West Brom during a 2-1 victory, but his longevity at the club was called into question by manager Sir Alex Ferguson after failing to save a Shane Long strike and describing the situation as a "learning process". 

Since then, though, he has become a mainstay as Manchester United goalkeeper, regularly playing the majority of matches of each Premier League season for the club. At 32-years-old, De Gea still has the potential to feature in plenty more Premier League minutes throughout the remainder of his career. 

The next active player on the list is James Milner, in seventh - he has played 32,079 Premier League minutes, but, at 36-years-old, his career is seemingly nearing the end. Meanwhile, Aston Villa's Ashley Young is in 11th, having played in 31,396 Premier League minutes.

Hugo Lloris seems the biggest threat of breaking into the top ten, though, having played 31,277 minutes, while Jordan Henderson, in 13th, has featured in 30,790 Premier League minutes. 

Record Premier League appearance maker Gareth Barry is in fifth place on the list, with Petr Cech and, surprisingly, Gary Cahill in the places above him.

Who has played the most Premier League minutes in history? 

1. David de Gea - 35,039
2. Ben Foster - 34,959
3. Gary Cahill - 33,374
4. Petr Cech - 33,324
5. Gareth Barry - 33,211
6. Leighton Baines - 32,316
7. James Milner - 32,079
8. Tim Howard - 31,748
9. Mark Noble - 31,705
10. Phil Jagielka - 31,433

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.