Chris Smalling has just signed a contract extension with the club and has reflected on what the club means to him. What he enjoys most about being a Manchester United player is getting to play in front of a full house every week, with United selling out Old Trafford for every game.

I’d say playing in front of a full stadium, nearly 80,000, every week. There aren’t any other teams who have that. Every game is a sell-out too. We’re very lucky that people travel from all over the world to come and see us whenever we play.

Having played non-league football before joining Fulham, Smalling has revealed the thing that has surprised him the most since signing for the club is how massive it is globally.

When we go abroad, especially to Asia and even to America, you realise it’s such a global club. We all know United is big but it’s more about realising just how big it is and how it really affects a lot of people all over the world. Football is big in this country but it doesn’t sink in about how big it is elsewhere until you go to other countries.

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