‘I want to make the step up’ – Fan favourite ready to leave ManUtd after 12-yrs in Old Trafford: personal terms agreed
According to United sources, De Gea's contractual situation is looking dismal, with the 31-year-old so far refusing to accept a pay cut from his present £375,000-a-week compensation.
David de Gea is poised to leave Manchester United this summer after failing to make the club’s retained list for the upcoming season.
De Gea’s contract expires on June 30 and he has yet to accept terms on a new contract, which might mean the end of his 12-year tenure at Old Trafford.
According to United sources, De Gea’s contractual situation is looking dismal, with the 31-year-old so far refusing to accept a pay cut from his present £375,000-a-week compensation.
Mateo Mejia, a junior striker, and Under 21s player-coach Tom Huddlestone are both on United’s retained list, having both received new contract offers from the club.
Despite being in the same contractual situation as the pair, De Gea was left out, implying that the former Spain international will be leaving this summer.
If that is the case, United will need to sign a new No.1 goalkeeper, with Tom Heaton and Nathan Bishop the only choices if De Gea leaves as a free agent, as is expected.
De Gea has made 545 appearances for United, ranking seventh on the club’s all-time list, but it appears that he has played his final game for the Red Devils.
Last season, he earned the Golden Glove, which is given to the goalkeeper with the most Premier League clean sheets, but his season was overshadowed by a number of high-profile and costly individual errors.
Ten Hag is known to prefer a goalkeeper who can play the ball out from the back with his feet, which De Gea is incapable of doing, and only last month the United manager stated that if the Spaniard stayed, he could not guarantee him the No.1 spot next season.
In light of this, United have already begun hunting for De Gea’s replacement, with Everton and England No.1 Jordan Pickford, Porto and Portugal’s first-choice Diogo Costa, and Inter Milan’s Cameroon stopper Andre Onana all on their radar.
United has discharged seven players, including defenders Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe, as Ten Hag continues to reorganize his squad ahead of the new season.
