Manchester United’s No. 1 goalkeeper David de Gea is set to leave the club as he has just one year left on his contract, but it seems like the Red Devils may have to pay him a hefty fee to make him leave the club before the start of the 2019-20 season, rather than see him leave on a free transfer next year.
A report from The Sun has revealed that the Manchester club may pay £20 million to the Spanish keeper as a “golden handshake” to let him move to French club Paris Saint-Germain. In that case, United will demand a fee of £60-75 million for the 28-year-old, who joined the club in 2011.
This “golden handshake” payment will enable Manchester United to sell him for a fee and not see the Spaniard leave for nothing, as he can start negotiating with other clubs from January 2020.
The report further states that PSG are also interested in France captain and Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who could be another player to replace Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon, who is going to leave PSG after just one year at the French club.
de Gea has won a Premier League and Europa League title as well as the FA Cup with Manchester United since joining the club from Atletico Madrid.
Should they retain him and sell him for free?
de Gea is certainly going to leave Manchester United, either this season or the next. The Spaniard is a world-class player and could possibly want to leave the club to win the Champions League, which looks highly unlikely at the moment with Manchester United as they are in a major transitional phase.
The Red Devils management should not commit the same mistake that they did with the contracts of Ander Herrera or Juan Mata, whose contracts are set to expire at the end of the month. The midfielder will leave the club on a free while Mata has been offered an extension which he hasn’t signed yet.
United should cash-in on de Gea as it looks impossible to convince him to stay at the club and help the club rise up the table once again.
Paying him money to help facilitate his move could be a wise decision as Manchester United could use the funds from the transfer fee to buy a new replacement for him, and in the overall rebuild.