Manchester United have been criticised by their own supporters for congratulating David de Gea on his marriage - a day after letting him become a free agent.
De Gea, 32, saw his £375,000-a-week contract expire on Friday, and although United remain in talks with his representatives, the Spanish goalkeeper is free to join another club during the summer transfer window amid interest from Saudi Arabia. First, though, De Gea has tied the knot with long-time partner Edurne Garcia, who moved to Manchester in 2018 after they begun dating 12 years ago.
Fans congratulated the couple on their wedding day on the Spanish island of Menorca via social media, as did United's official Instagram account. "Felicidades, David," they wrote, meaning: "Congratulations, David."
Although their comment received more than 2,300 likes, some supporters weren't impressed by their apparent tone deaf response. "Are you kidding?" one fan fumed. "You let this man lose a job in a wedding day."
Another urged: "Please treat him better than this. He deserves to get respect from the club." A third then raged: "You made him a free agent after years of excellent loyal service and have the cheek to comment, as a MU fan, f*** off."
Other fans are less concerned about the 32-year-old's impending departure, with some counting down the days until his official release - at least they hope. Those on both sides of the De Gea divide are soon set to learn the outcome of contract talks, as manager Erik ten Hag is desperate not to drag the goalkeeping saga on into pre-season.
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Currently, United's only available senior shot-stopper ahead of their first friendly on July 12 is veteran Tom Heaton, as Dean Henderson is still recovering from thigh surgery and also expecting to join Nottingham Forest permanently. De Gea did sign a contract extension, which would've seen him take a drastic pay cut, earlier this year, only for the Red Devils to withdraw the offer.
Old Trafford chiefs want to reduce his wages even further but it's unclear whether or not the former Spain international, capped 45 times by his country before being dropped due to his poor distribution, has formally been offered a new deal. Ten Hag's issue with De Gea is also based around his below-par distribution, struggling with the ball at his feet and often failing to command his area.
That's prompted United to look at signing Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana, who Ten Hag worked with at Ajax. But Inter's £60million asking price has proven to be stumbling block in negotiations, as the Red Devils only have a budget of £120m this summer and are already set to spend nearly half of that on Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount.
Two cheaper targets have emerged since United's talks with Onana stalled, namely Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and Feyenoord's Justin Bijlow. Likely to be available for £10m and £20m respectively, Ten Hag views the pair as attainable and wants to sign them regardless of what happens with De Gea.
