Man United u-turn over David de Gea contract could lead to messy exit
So a Manchester United career that began exactly 12 years ago on June 29, 2011, appears to be entering its final days.
Unless there is one last twist in David de Gea’s contract saga, the Spanish goalkeeper will leave Old Trafford as a free agent at midnight on Friday.
United can still re-sign him after that, of course. But given that De Gea’s contract situation was a topic of discussion when he spoke to the travelling media in a Perth hotel room as far back as last July, it would be peculiar in the extreme for United to go back in for the 32-year-old after all this time for negotiation.
If this is indeed the end, it will have been a messy and rather unedifying exit for a man who will go down as one of United’s goalkeeping greats.
In hindsight, it would have been better for De Gea to say goodbye to Old Trafford after the final home game of last season against Fulham with the fans’ adulation still ringing in his ears.
This could be the end of David de Gea’s Manchester United career after the club u-turned on a new contract just days before his current deal expires
Erik ten Hag is unconvinced about keeping De Gea as No 1 and wants a new first-choice option
Erik ten Hag presented De Gea with the Golden Glove award that day at the end of a season in which he also broke the club’s appearance and clean sheet records held by Alex Stepney and Peter Schmeichel.
Schmeichel rode off into the sunset in 1999 clutching the European Cup having announced six months earlier that he would be leaving, but sadly not every player gets to write his own script.
After the Fulham game, Ten Hag said he was confident De Gea would sign the new contract. A week later, at Wembley, the goalkeeper was the centre of attention again after letting in Ilkay Gundogan’s decisive second goal in the FA Cup final.
Ten Hag refused to throw De Gea under the bus but admitted that he had to work on ‘issues’ over his distribution after another erratic performance with the ball at his feet.
So what has changed over the course of the last month? Only Ten Hag knows whether events at Wembley that day made him reconsider the goalkeeping situation at United.
What has become clear is that the Dutchman refused to sign off a contract that had been agreed between the club and De Gea reducing his £375,000-a-week wages, as Mail Sport reported earlier this month.
Despite De Gea winning the 2022-23 Golden Glove, Ten Hag is searching for another stopper
The Man United keeper was criticised for his slow reactions to Ilkay Gundogan’s volley for Manchester City in the FA Cup final earlier this month
Even if De Gea signs it, he knows that he will no longer be considered No 1 at United with Ten Hag determined to bring in someone who is better with his feet.
From shopping for No 2 goalkeepers in the £15million bracket, United are now looking at Inter Milan’s Andre Onana who would cost closer to £50m – a big difference in a transfer window in which Ten Hag is working on a limited budget due to Financial Fair Play.
After 12 years as undisputed No 1, it’s hard to see how De Gea can continue playing for a manager who has clearly lost faith in him. His status would be taking a hit as well as his salary.
From Ten Hag’s point of view, it looks as though he will get his way and acquire a new goalkeeper – quite possibly Onana, who played for him at Ajax. The United manager certainly likes to work with familiar faces.
He is going the same route as Pep Guardiola who axed Joe Hart after joining Manchester City in 2016 over the England goalkeeper’s distribution.
De Gea made a howler against West Ham last month when Said Benrahma’s shot creeped in
United have held exploratory talks with Inter Milan over a potential move for Andre Onana
That happened almost immediately, though. The nagging question is why it has taken Ten Hag so long to reach this decision.
People can change, players can improve, but De Gea was never going to suddenly become a ball player four months short of his 33rd birthday. This could have been resolved much sooner.
The situation could change again while there is still time, of course. After all, this is a player who was a dodgy fax machine away from leaving for Real Madrid late on deadline day in the summer of 2015.
This time it feels as though it will take more than a gremlin in the system to keep De Gea at United.
De Gea posted a yawning emoji on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, hinting he’d grown tired of the saga. It seems time is finally running out on his Manchester United career.