Man Utd withdraw contract proposal for David de Gea & offer further reduced deal
David de Gea signed a new contract with Manchester United only for the club to withdraw the offer before signing it themselves, according to a report.
The Spanish goalkeeper, who has been at United for 12 seasons, has entered the final week of his existing deal with the club, and doubts have shrouded his long-term future for several months – with a drop-off in form and a number of mistakes holding United back in numerous fixtures over the second half of last season.
United issued De Gea with an offer worth around £200,000 per week – this a huge reduction from the £375,000 a week he is earning on his existing deal – and it’s understood that De Gea chose to sign that contract.
However, United removed that offer following De Gea signing his side of the terms, only to then issue an even further reduced contract proposal.
Erik ten Hag is keen to make a series of upgrades to his squad over the course of this summer and next, with centre half, central midfield and centre forward all priorities to strengthen dependent on how many players United can move on in those positions. Goalkeeper is also a priority – though the profile of the player they sign in that position is dependent on De Gea’s decision.
Ten Hag is looking for a goalkeeper with appropriate distribution and passing abilities – areas De Gea evidently lacks – and sources believe he is pushing for a new first choice to be signed whether De Gea stays or not.
According to sources, De Gea is still mulling over the new terms offered to him – they are not described as bad in any sense – and while there is still a chance he chooses to sign, the player is upset at the way the process has been handled. No decision has been made yet and while his contract expires on Friday, he does not need to rush a decision through regardless if he is still contracted or not.
De Gea does have other offers, however, namely from Saudi Arabia reports in the media say. The 32-year-old was expected at the time to reject proposals from a league making a massive play to sign high-profile names, but United’s withdrawal of their first offer and subsequently reduced follow-up has made the situation unclear.
Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech are all names who have joined Cristiano Ronaldo in moving to Saudi Arabia over the last few months. Many more are expected, with greater money on offer to these names than from anywhere else in Europe.
De Gea would stand to make more than even his existing contract terms at United if he decides to move to Saudi Arabia, but no decisions have been made by the player at this point.
Porto need to raise €50m before June 30 and could potentially sell Diogo Costa to close that figure this week – United and Premier League rivals Chelsea have shown interest in the past though his departure is not as advanced as reported in Portugal at present.
Inter’s Andre Onana is, however, the leading candidate to become the club’s next number one should they sign one, 90min understands, and United have held talks about his signing.
Onana worked with Ten Hag at Ajax and received wide praise for his performance in Inter’s Champions League final defeat against Manchester City, and he is regarded to be one of the best players in the world in his position at playing out of his goal, distributing the ball and starting attacks.
Ten Hag previously described the 27-year-old as a “masterful goalkeeper”.