DAVID DE GEA could have made his last Manchester United gaffe.
The Spain international goalkeeper was slow across to Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan’s winner in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
It led to outrage from fans and Red Devils legend Roy Keane in his role as a TV pundit at Wembley.
Keane said: “De Gea’s not good enough, he is not going to be the one to take United back to winning trophies. They need a world-class goalkeeper and he isn’t.”
De Gea, 32, won this season’s Golden Glove for most Premier League clean sheets but has been at fault on a number of occasions — not least as United exited the Europa League to Sevilla. His £375,000-a-week deal is now up with the club wanting him to take a wage cut to £200,000 a week.
While negotiations have been ongoing the hierarchy are now getting cold feet about signing off on any new contract. His failure to get to Gundogan’s mis-hit 51st-minute volley in United’s 2-1 defeat on Saturday will not have them rushing back to the negotiating table, either.
Boss Erik ten Hag defended his goalkeeper after the final but said City’s goals were “so soft and avoidable”. He then admitted there is an issue with him when questioned about the former Atletico Madrid No 1’s poor distribution from the back.
Ten Hag said: “There are occasions in the game, issues in the game we have to improve, definitely, if we want to make the next step and win trophies. I have only one plan, that is to improve this club and this team.”
United are not looking to recall Dean Henderson, 26, and are hoping his loan deal to Nottingham Forest can turn into a permanent switch.
Tom Heaton, 37, will remain as a back-up keeper while Jack Butland is nearing a move to Rangers following his temporary stay from Crystal Palace. United have been watching Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, 28, at Dinamo Zagreb this season — and his release clause is just £8.9million.
Porto’s Diogo Costa is also on the watchlist but the 23-year-old’s price tag comes in at around £65m. De Gea will not be the only player leaving Old Trafford this summer if it comes to it.
Fred, 30, is frustrated at a lack of action and has only one year left on his contract with no talks having taken place about extending it. Saturday’s FA Cup final was the midfielder’s first start in that competition this season, to go with only 12 in the league.
Asked about his future, Fred, capped 32 times by Brazil, said: “I still don’t know, I have to talk with my family. I still have one year left in my contract here. Now it’s holiday time and a good opportunity to rest. I’ll talk to my staff, to the club and see what is everyone’s decision. I do have to talk with Ten Hag as well, he’s the manager and the conversation has to involve everyone. We have to see how next season will plan out. I want to be important, I want to help the team, so we’ll see. But I’ve always been, and still am, very happy at Manchester United.”
Fred, who gave away the free-kick that led to City’s winner, was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk for £52m in June 2018. He has made 213 appearances for the Red Devils across five seasons scoring 14 goals.
Club captain Harry Maguire, 30, is another set to be moving on after a disappointing season in which he has started only eight league games. He did not play a part in Saturday’s Cup final and despite fighting hard to try to regain his place, he has now accepted he needs to leave to play regular first-team football.
As reported by SunSport on Friday, United are aiming to use Maguire as part of a deal to land midfielder Mason Mount with the clubs some distance apart on a fee with Chelsea wanting £70m.
Injury-prone Anthony Martial is another United will be looking to sell after losing patience with the French forward. The 27-year-old missed the FA Cup final after suffering a hamstring tear at the end of United’s final league game against Fulham.
Midfielder Scott McTominay, 26, started only ten league games this season and United are willing to listen to offers of around £50m for the Scotland international with Newcastle interested. On-loan players Marcel Sabitzer and Wout Weghorst will be returned to their clubs.
Sabitzer, 29, was brought in from Bayern Munich when Christian Eriksen got injured. He made 18 appearances but finished the season on the sidelines with a knee injury.
With just two goals from 31 appearances, there will be no permanent deal for Dutch striker Weghorst, 30, either. United bought him out of his loan spell from Burnley to Besiktas to help out with the goals load being shouldered by Marcus Rashford after Cristiano Ronaldo left.
He will now have talks with Burnley boss Vincent Kompany about any future he has at Turf Moor following his unsuccessful £12m switch there from Wolfsburg. Ten Hag’s priority is to get a new striker in with Spurs all-time top scorer Harry Kane, 30 next month, top of the list and ready to make the move to Old Trafford in a £100m deal.
Source: thesun.co.uk
