Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea celebrates his 26th birthday today, and we at Shoot! would like to wish the Spanish shot-stopper a very happy birthday!

De Gea has been at Old Trafford since 2011 following a £18 million deal from Spanish side Atletico Madrid, and has improved from the nervy goalkeeper we saw in his first few games to one of the best in the world at present.

The Spanish international helped Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to the Premier League title in 2012/13, and then embarked on three incredible seasons to stake his claim as the best goalkeeper in the English top-flight.

He has won the United Player of the Year award for three successive seasons, something no United players has ever done, and he has been in the last two Premier League PFA Teams of the Year.

The young goalkeeper was integral during David Moyes short stint in charge at Old Trafford and indeed Louis van Gaal’s two-year stint in the hot seat and, if early signs are anything to go by, he’ll be important for Jose Mourinho over the coming seasons.

As it’s his 26th birthday today, we thought we’d bring you some facts that you might not know about the United shot-stopper…

He is far-sighted

The Manchester United goalkeeper has a condition called hyperopia, the medical term for farsightedness.

This means that he is able to see things further away more clearly than he can those closer to him, which means that he has to wear glasses off the field, and contact lenses on it.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem to have affected his goalkeeping career thus far, as he is widely regarded as one of the best keepers in world football.

Roomed with Sergio Aguero

During his time at Atletico Madrid, De Gea regularly roomed with now Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero on away matches.

The two struck up quite a friendship during their time in the Spanish capital, and now regularly face one another in the Premier League.

Aguero has netted eight times against United since arriving in England, with a fair few of those strikes past his close friend De Gea.

His former coach lied to Atletico Madrid when he was 13

When De Gea was just 13 years old, his coach at the time lied to Atletico Madrid about a potential deal with fellow Spanish side Rayo Vallecano.

Juan-Luis Martin, his coach, told Atletico that Vallecano were on the verge of signing him, in the hope that the capital-based side would act quickly and sign him up.

Subsequently, they got a deal done for De Gea just a few days later.

His girlfriend represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest

De Gea’s girlfriend is Spanish singer and presenter Edurne Garcia, who represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna in 2015.

However, her song ‘Amanecer’ scored just 15 points, and finished in 21st place, although that was still four places higher and ten points more than the United Kingdom!

He almost went to Wigan in 2010

The Spanish international almost joined Wigan Athletic on loan in 2010, just a year prior to his move to Old Trafford.

Latics boss at the time Roberto Martinez confirmed that a deal has been struck between them and Atletico Madrid, but it fell through on the final day of the window.

He was a striker at school

Believe or not, De Gea was a prolific striker in his young days!

The United goalkeeper was an outfield player up until the age of 14, and was top scorer at his school before eventually settling on becoming a goalkeeper.

It hasn’t turned out to be a bad decision!

Man United broke a British transfer record to bring him to Old Trafford

It cost Manchester United in excess of £17 million to bring De Gea to Old Trafford, which means that they had to break the British transfer record for a goalkeeper.

At just 20 years of age, there was a lot of pressure on the Spaniard’s shoulders, not just the price tage, but the fact that he was to take over from United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who was outstanding between the sticks for the Manchester side.

However, £17 million looks like a bargain when you consider what De Gea has done for United in recent times. He’d go for a lot more than that now.

He was approached by QPR in 2009

Not only were Wigan interested in De Gea’s services, so were West London side Queens Park Rangers.

While playing for the Atletico Madrid B team, just a year after signing a professional deal in the Spanish capital, the Championship side are thought to have made an approach for the then 18-year-old in the summer of 2009, although no deal ever materialised.

Instead, within a few months, he made his first team debut for Atletico in their Champions League defeat at Porto.