Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he wants to see David de Gea remain at Manchester United for the rest of his career following more speculation over his future. The Red Devils have spent the best part of 18 months trying to secure the Spain goalkeeper to a new long-term contract but with little success and time is beginning to run out.
The 28-year-old can walk away from Old Trafford for nothing at the end of this season and will be free to enter pre-contract talks with European clubs from January 1.
Paris Saint-Germain are known to be very keen on De Gea and are likely to be at the front of the queue to speak to the shot stopper if he doesn’t put pen to paper on a new deal before the end of the year.
United are understood to have offered De Gea a six-year deal worth between £350,000 and £375,000 per week and it was widely reported during the summer that the Red Devils’ No.1 had verbally agreed to the terms on offer.
However, De Gea has still to ink his contract and while the Old Trafford hierarchy remain confident he will eventually commit to the club, they have begun looking at alternatives in a worst-case scenario.
According to The Athletic, the recruitment team have identified Everton’s Jordan Pickford and Atletico Madrid stopper Jan Oblak as potential replacements.
Solskjaer is adamant De Gea will stay with United though and says talks are taking place all the time between the two parties in the hope of soon reaching a successful conclusion. “I want David to stay here, he knows that,” the United boss said. “For me, David is the best goalkeeper in the world. We have seen that over the years. “I hope I can make sure that he will finish his career at United at the highest level. There have been loads of talks and discussions between David and the club and hopefully we can get it done.”
De Gea has once again found the going tough this season having ended the previous campaign with a series of poor performance and Solskjaer has been forced to defend his custodian.
De Gea was at fault for Crystal Palace’s winner at Old Trafford last month but his place in the side doesn’t’ appear under threat and he is almost certain to start Saturday’s clash with Leicester City.
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