The 24-year-old was set for a £29 million transfer to Real Madrid on August 31, but the Spanish club failed to complete the deal in time.
Madrid president Florentino Perez blamed United for the late arrival of paperwork, but added that any hope of signing De Gea this season had gone.
“We will certainly not sign De Gea in January. Madrid did its job as best it could,” he admitted to Cadena COPE.
After recovering from the disappointment of seeing his dream move collapse De Gea instructed his agent Jorge Mendes to explore the possibility of signing a new deal at Old Trafford.
The former Atletico Madrid star is now set to put pen to paper on a new long-term contract worth £200,000-a-week, a significant increase on his current salary. For United’s part, they are expected to include a release clause in the deal which would allow them to recoup the £29m fee they would have received from Madrid should the goalkeeper seek to leave the club next summer.
De Gea looks set to celebrate his new agreement with United by making his first club appearance of the season in this weekend’s crunch clash with arch-rivals Liverpool.
The Spaniard was overlooked for United’s first six games of the season after manager Louis van Gaal claimed his No.1 keeper had struggled mentally amid the uncertainty over his future.
But at training on Thursday De Gea took the role of main goalkeeper, and he is expected to do the same again on Friday ahead of a return to the starting XI at Old Trafford against Liverpool.
Sergio Romero has failed to convince during De Gea’s absence, despite conceding only three goals in six matches. The Argentine shouldered the blame for the 2-1 loss to Swansea in United’s last fixture, prompting Van Gaal to consider recalling the club's player of the year for the last two seaons.
De Gea has made 175 appearances for United since arriving from Atletico in 2011 and collected six caps for Spain since making his international debut in 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment