De Gea: FA Cup win could launch 'great things' for Manchester United

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea says a victory for the Red Devils in Saturday's FA Cup final against Crystal Palace would help springboard the club towards "great things" after enduring a difficult season.

De Gea, 25, enjoyed a standout campaign despite the struggles of his teammates, and is hoping to cap it off by lifting football's oldest trophy at Wembley Stadium Saturday.

"It's been the best season of my career," De Gea said, according to ESPN FC's Arindam Rej. "I'm in great shape, physically and mentally. I'm very focused.

"If we win the FA Cup, it will be a good season. We've had a couple of difficult seasons, so we are really determined to win the cup. And winning it could provide us with that extra belief and motivation to hopefully go on and achieve great things."

United has not captured a trophy of any kind since winning the Premier League crown in 2013.

After a season that has widely been panned as a failure - United finished fifth and missed out on Champions League football by virtue of an inferior goal difference to rival Manchester City - De Gea was in a reflective mood.

"In the Premier League, all teams can slip up against all kinds of opposition," De Gea said. "It's a very tough league, but it's true we have lost games that we shouldn't have, against teams that on paper we should have been beating.

"But then we have won plenty of the very difficult games, too, and in that sense it has been a strange season."