David de Gea's Manchester United career is hanging on by a thread.
The Spaniard’s contract officially expired on Friday and he now finds himself among the free agents around Europe looking for employment. After a 13-year spell, the fact that Ge Gea is shuffling out of the back door at Old Trafford is slightly unsavoury.
The former Atletico Madrid keeper's position at Man United has regularly fluctuated and has continued to do so, even over the past few weeks. The Red Devils had been attempting to tie De Gea - last season’s Premier League Golden Glove winner - down to a new contract.
An agreement was reached between the club and De Gea with the player himself even putting pen to paper on a new deal that included a significant pay cut. However, reports have suggested that club officials hesitated over signing off on the deal.
They then performed a dramatic U-turn as they withdrew their offer before submitting another with an even lower pay packet. De Gea has not yet signed that deal, leading to his possible exit.
It is not the first time that the 32-year-old's future as a Man United player has been unclear. De Gea was infamously on the verge of a move to Real Madrid back in the summer of 2015.
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A fee had been agreed between the two clubs and the stopper was primed to return to his homeland. However, a faulty fax machine of all things scuppered the move with things growing unsavoury between the two clubs.
Real accused the Red Devils of holding up the deal, which caused the transfer to break down late on. The Spanish side also claimed that they had done everything they could to facilitate a move, whilst De Gea himself also reportedly had considered lodging a transfer request.
Regardless of who was at fault, De Gea was then forced to return to Old Trafford and he held major reservations about taking to the field as a Red Devil once more, only to find out that he was still adored by the United faithful.
Opening up on the infamous incident a few years later, he said: “I wasn’t sure how Old Trafford would react to me. I was nervous walking out that day.
“They have always been behind me but I did wonder that day. As it transpired, they were amazing. Everyone was singing my name. It was important for me.”
Despite his form going through peaks and troughs - the highs being two Premier League golden gloves, and the lows being a series of costly errors - United still continued to underline their faith in their goalkeeper. He was tied down to a new deal just months after the Real Madrid debacle - a contract that saw his wage at Old Trafford quadrupled.
Speaking at the time, then Man United boss Louis van Gaal said: “I am absolutely delighted David has signed a new contract. He is one of the best goalkeepers in world football. I am very pleased that he will be part of the team for many years to come.”
Another agreement was then found in 2019 that saw De Gea’s wages rise even more as United tried desperately to keep hold of their two-time player of the year. The 32-year-old has banked £375k per week since then, making him one of the highest-paid goalkeepers in world football.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer echoed his predecessor's thoughts on his goalkeeper - De Gea still holds plenty of acclaim. The Norwegian said: “I am delighted that David has committed his long-term future to the club.
“Over recent years, David has proved himself to be the best in the world and a vital part of our plans as we look to take Manchester United back to where it belongs. David is a fantastic person and his outstanding quality provides the perfect base to our defence.”
United’s decision to not stump up that amount anymore highlights the fact that De Gea is not perceived as untouchable at Old Trafford - and the fact that they could simply let him leave for nothing underlines that even further. Even if he decides to put pen to paper on dramatically reduced terms, it appears highly unlikely that he would remain as the club’s number one.
The Red Devils have been linked with a host of potential replacements including Inter Milan stopper Andre Onana and Porto star Diogo Costa. Negotiations are expected to get underway regarding a swoop for the former over the coming days.
Whilst that may leave the former Ajax stopper with a decision to make, the same can be said of De Gea, whose Old Trafford career is now surely over.
