admin David de Gea will technically become a free agent once the clock strikes midnight on Saturday as contract negotiations with Manchester United rumble on.
The Spaniard has been at Old Trafford for 12 seasons, racking up a mammoth 545 appearances in all competitions in that time, but his future at the club has never been more uncertain.
The 32-year-old won the Premier League’s Golden Glove last season, the award for the division’s cleanest goal, but has also made a number of glaring errors and proved quite incredible with his kicks.This has led to heavy speculation that manager Erik ten Hag will keep him in check, particularly in light of the £375,000-a-week profit from his current contract.
90min reported on Tuesday that United had agreed with De Gea to reduce his terms to around £200,000 a week, which the goalkeeper agreed to. But United decided to change contract terms after signing the Spaniard, further cutting his salary and leading to the current standoff.
United have started to look more closely at alternatives to De Gea, most recently focusing on Inter’s Andre Onana.
The Red Devils have started talks with the Champions League finalists over a potential deal, knowing full well that Inter Milan will need to raise money by selling players this summer.
One thing in Onana’s favor is that he has previously worked with Ten Hag at Ajax and is highly unlikely to come to Manchester to replace De Gea.
Porto’sDiogo Costa is another option for United – the Portuguese giants also need to generate money from player sales to comply with FFP regulations – but Onana is currently seen as United’s preferred option.
De Gea could still sign a new deal to stay at United but he could also choose to cash in on the riches Saudi Arabia is offering him. 90min announced in early June that an offer had been made for De Gea, although at the time he had no desire to move to the Middle East.
However, that decision came as confidence grew that De Gea would remain United’s number one goalkeeper.
With Ten Hag and United actively looking for a new centre-back, he could back down from the proposal as many of the Premier League’s top players have decided to follow in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
