admin David de Gea’s £375,000-a-week Manchester United contract expires at midnight on Friday.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo has earned a greater salary at Old Trafford than the former Spain No. 1 since he signed his deal in 2019, and United’s attempts to negotiate a vastly reduced pay packet in order to retain De Gea’s services suggests they don’t feel they’ve got value for money.
As the club appears to be enduring yet another summer of frustration in the transfer market — July is about to start and United have only just agreed on one deal, to sign Mason Mount from Chelsea — the De Gea situation (it has now become a saga, in typical United fashion) sums up why United find themselves in this predicament. It is a tale of excess, in terms of player wages, contract lengths and transfer fees, that has left manager Erik ten Hag needing to offload as many as six players in order to raise the funds required to add the three priority signings.
Sources have told ESPN that without a resolution to the ongoing takeover process at the club, it could take United three years to untangle the mess that Ten Hag and football director John Murtough inherited from the previous regime, headed by former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
No player embodies United’s misguided approach to recruitment and remuneration more than De Gea. When he signed his last contract in September 2019, his performances had already started to slide following a poor 2018 World Cup with Spain in Russia, but United made him the highest-paid player at the club regardless. There was no clamour from rival clubs to sign him, but De Gea was still given a huge salary by Woodward — a decision backed by then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
During the same period, United made Harry Maguire the world’s most expensive defender by paying £80 million for the Leicester centre-half, having opened the bidding at £45m. In 2021, Jadon Sancho made a £73m move from Borussia Dortmund on a five-year contract, with United paying the high fee for the player despite a lack of competition for his signature.
Sources have told ESPN that United will listen to offers for both players this summer, but interest is limited because of the financial cost of taking either Maguire or Sancho from Old Trafford. They are, like De Gea, playing so far below expectations that nobody is prepared to gamble on them unless United cut their losses simply to get them off the wage bill.
ESPN has been told a Premier League club was asked about a loan transfer for Scott McTominay last year, only to quickly look elsewhere when told he had to pay the Scottish midfielder’s six-figure-a-week salary. Again, United’s decision to pay such a high salary to a player with limited ability prevented them from promoting him.
The process of’s removal from United began 12 months ago when Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Edinson Cavani and Nemanja Matic were sacked after their contracts expired. None of those who left Old Trafford last year reached a level that suggests United made a mistake in letting them go, although keeping them for so long may have been a mistake.
But all the mistakes add up and this witch starts paying for it.Asource told ESPN that ideally, with the funds available and the certainty of ownership, Ten Hag would sign three players this summer: a new goalie (Andre Onana), a midfielder (Mason Mount) and a center forward ( preferably Harry). Khan). However, financial constraints that have forced United to raise money through player departures mean Ten Hag only has the budget for two of those three key destinations.
It is for this reason that United have tried to negotiate a lower salary with De Gea as keeping him on a lower salary is cheaper than getting a new goalkeeper and leaving more ten hag for the forward and midfield.
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If De Gea leaves as a free agent, a move for Inter Milan’s Onana is likely, but sources have said that even at £40m, a deal for the former Ajax keeper would drain resources without the departures of a number of high-earners.
Sources have said that Maguire (contract expires 2025), Sancho (2026), McTominay (2025), Donny van de Beek (2025), Anthony Martial (2024), Alex Telles (2024), Anthony Elanga (2026), Eric Bailly (2024) and Brandon Williams (2024) are all available for transfer this summer, but the mistakes of the past will take time to rectify.
That’s why De Gea could stay at United next season despite a dispute over his contract. If he hadn’t landed such a big deal in 2019, perhaps he and United would have moved on to better things now. Phil Jones was handed a new four-year deal worth £110,000 a week this summer and played just 21 games before being sacked at the end of June.
If Ten Hag could build on the foresight and determination with which rivals Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have significantly expanded their squads since the end of last season, they would now be preparing to start pre-training in early July for their rebuilding programme. already in progress.But this is Manchester United and Ten Hag, like so many of his predecessors, are discovering that the summer brings only problems and few solutions.
