David de Gea and Manchester United still remain ‘far apart’ on wages, according to senior Old Trafford insiders. There is renewed optimism the Red Devils’ goalkeeper will pledge himself to a new five-year deal following the feel-good factor caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has brought back to the club.
However, the brilliant Spaniard and his advisers are still playing hardball and are understood to be holding out for basic terms worth around £370,000-per-week, rather than the initial package United proposed, which is more bonus and appearance related.
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De Gea’s camp also continue to cite the massive £505,000-per-week that team-mate Alexis Sanchez is earning at the Theatre of Dreams, despite the Chilean forward being two years older than the shot-stopper, widely considered to be one of the best in the world. United executives were forced to take up their 12-month option on de Gea last month to avoid the player being able to walk away for nothing this summer. His fantastic display in Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur has only further ramped up the financial high stakes, with the Manchester giants already crunching the numbers again for a man they value at over £100m on the open market.
