Man United u-turn over David de Gea contract could lead to messy exit 

So a Manchester United career that started exactly 12 years ago on June 29, 2011 seems to be entering its final days.

Barring one last twist in David de Gea’s contract story, the Spanish goalkeeper will leave Old Trafford at midnight on Friday as a free agent.

United can of course still re-sign him afterwards. But given that De Gea’s contract situation was a subject of discussion when he spoke to the traveling media in a hotel room in Perth last July, it would be extremely odd for United to go back for their 32-year career. old after all this time of negotiating.

If this is indeed the end, it will have been a messy and rather unedifying exit for a man who will go down as one of United’s great goalkeepers.

In hindsight, it would have been better for De Gea to say goodbye to Old Trafford after last season’s last home game against Fulham with the admiration of the fans still ringing in his ears.

Erik ten Hag is not convinced about keeping De Gea as number 1 and wants a new first choice

Erik ten Hag presented De Gea with the Golden Glove award that day at the end of a season in which he also broke the club’s performance and the clean sheets set by Alex Stepney and Peter Schmeichel.

Schmeichel rode off into the sunset in 1999 holding onto the European Cup after announcing his departure six months earlier, but unfortunately not every player gets the chance to write their own script.

After the duel with Fulham, Ten Hag said he was confident that De Gea would sign the new contract. A week later at Wembley, the goalkeeper was back in the spotlight after letting in Ilkay Gundogan’s decisive second goal in the FA Cup final.

Ten Hag refused to throw De Gea under the bus, but admitted that after another erratic performance with the ball at his feet, he had to work on “problems” with his distribution.

So what has changed over the past month? Only Ten Hag knows whether the events at Wembley that day made him think about the goalkeeping situation at United.

What has become clear is that the Dutchman refused to sign a contract agreed between the club and De Gea, cutting his wages from £375,000 a week, as Mail Sport reported earlier this month.

A second – even lower – offer was made and that deal is unsigned on the table as the clock ticks down to Friday night.

Despite De Gea winning the 2022/23 Golden Glove, Ten Hag is looking for a new stopper

The Man United goalkeeper was criticized for his slow reactions to Ilkay Gundogan’s volley for Manchester City in the FA Cup final earlier this month.

Even if De Gea signs the deal, he knows he will no longer be regarded as number 1 at United, while Ten Hag is determined to bring in someone better with his feet.

From shopping for No. 2 goalkeepers in the £15 million league, United are now eyeing Inter Milan’s Andre Onana who would cost closer to £50 million – a big difference in a transfer window where Ten Hag is working on a tight budget due to the financial purse Play.

After 12 years as the undisputed number 1, it is hard to see how De Gea can continue to play for a manager who has clearly lost faith in him. His status would take a hit, as would his salary.

From Ten Hag’s point of view, it looks like he’s going to get his way and get a new goalkeeper – possibly Onana, who played for him at Ajax. The United manager certainly enjoys working with familiar faces.

He follows the same path as Pep Guardiola who got rid of Joe Hart after joining Manchester City in 2016 due to England’s goalkeeping division.

De Gea roared against West Ham last month when a shot from Said Benrahma crept in

United have held exploratory talks with Inter Milan over a possible transfer of Andre Onana

However, that happened almost immediately. The nagging question is why it took so long for Ten Hag to come to this decision.

People can change, players can improve, but De Gea would never suddenly become a footballer four months before his 33rd birthday. This could have been resolved much sooner.

Of course, the situation can change again as long as there is still time. After all, this is a player who was an unreliable fax machine away from leaving for Real Madrid late on deadline day in the summer of 2015.

This time it feels like it will take more than a gremlin in the system to keep De Gea at United.

De Gea posted a gaping emoji on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, hinting that he had grown tired of the saga. It seems that time is finally running out in his career at Manchester United.