Manchester United confidently expect to persuade David de Gea to sign a new contract but have been unsuccessful so far because of the goalkeeper’s determination to drive a hard deal and establish himself among the highest earners in world football.
With De Gea now in the final year of his contract, United have been trying for the last 18 months to persuade the Spain international to agree new terms and abandon thoughts of moving to another club. United’s stance has never altered but the matter has been complicated by De Gea’s advisers insisting their client receives a financial package that recognises he has been the club’s player-of-the-year in four out of the last six seasons.
De Gea’s financial requirements are said to be significantly higher than the widely reported numbers of £350,000 a week and, though United have been keen to find a resolution, the numbers being so high explain why it has been such a difficult and drawn-out process.
If everything goes according to plan and De Gea agrees to remain in Manchester, he will become the best-paid goalkeeper in the history of the sport. That in itself is not a problem for United but the club’s position has been weakened by the publicity surrounding Alexis Sánchez’s salary, giving De Gea’s representatives the opportunity to argue that their man is more deserving of being in the club’s highest wage bracket.
As well as challenging Manchester City for the signing of the England centre-back Harry Maguire from Leicester, there have been discussions at Old Trafford about the potential availability of Sean Longstaff, the Newcastle midfielder.
However, it is not clear yet whether that will result in a bid being tabled and, if not, it may be more that they keep close tabs on the 21-year-old over the coming season.
One player who will not be moving to Old Trafford is Mario Lemina of Southampton, the suspicion being that the Gabonese midfielder has been erroneously linked to Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team in an attempt to attract genuine bids from other clubs.
Paul Pogba’s hopes of leaving United this summer are becoming remote with the club receiving no bids for the France midfielder and the transfer window closing in less than a month.
The deadline of this summer’s transfer window is 8 August and is an issue regarding any potential deal. Solskjær has already lost a midfielder in Ander Herrera, who joined Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent, so if Pogba was to depart it would be difficult for the manager to have to replace a second midfielder in the three and a half weeks left of the window.
Real Madrid would like to sign Pogba but their valuation is markedly lower than United’s. Real price him between £100-120m with United wanting closer to £170m.
Both Pogba and his agent Mino Raiola have recently admitted the player’s wish would be to leave so if he was to stay Solskjær would face a challenge to ensure dressing room harmony is not affected.
