Conflicting Man Utd plans over David de Gea emerge, as reason senior star was singled out comes to light

Why Man Utd haven’t triggered the one-year option in the contract of David de Gea has been suggested, though overseas reports continue to suggest there’s more to the story.

Tuesday afternoon brought news of four new Manchester United contracts. Fabrizio Romano revealed the 12-month options in the deals of Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw, Fred and Marcus Rashford had all been triggered.

The quartet are now under contract until 2024. Romano added United intend to offer longer-term deals to Dalot and Rashford in the near future.

One player in a similar situation to the aforementioned foursome is David de Gea. Indeed, the Spanish veteran’s contract is due to expire at season’s end.

However, rather than trigger the one-year option, Romano vaguely claimed ‘talks ongoing also with De Gea’.

Given the options in the players’ contracts are at the club’s discretion, Romano’s claim would suggest United don’t intend to extend his stay by the requisite 12 months. Talks wouldn’t be required for the option to be activated.

That tallies with what Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg recently claimed regarding De Gea’s future at Old Trafford.

Plettenberg tweeted that he’s been made aware United won’t activate the 12-month option. However, the German journalist went on to suggest Erik ten Hag could look to sign a new number one, which is in direct contrast to what the Mirror now report.

Man Utd seeking longer-term deal for De Gea

The British newspaper weighed in on De Gea’s apparent snub, reporting United are ‘keen to tie the 32-year-old to a new long-term deal’.

If The Mirror are correct, Ten Hag is seemingly content to put his faith in De Gea for the long haul.

Regardless, that’s not stopped Portuguese outlet Correio da Manha reporting United are still sizing up FC Porto’s Diogo Costa.

Given Costa holds a release clause worth around £64m, it stands to reason it’d be one or the other at Old Trafford, not both.

The Red Devils are believed to be in talks with Borussia Monchengladbach’s Yann Sommer as they seek a high class No 2.

His potential arrival – either in January or June – would almost certainly spell the end for Dean Henderson. Tom Heaton would drop to number three in the ranks and Martin Dubravka would return to Newcastle.

A wrinkle on that front stems from Bayern Munich’s interest in Sommer. The Bavarians are hunting a reliable new stopper following Manuel Neuer’s skiing accident. The German unfortunately broke his leg and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.

In any case, the issue of who’ll be the number one will be of greater interest to United fans.

While overseas reports are still suggesting it might not be De Gea, the Mirror are of the belief the Spaniard’s time at Old Trafford isn’t likely to end any time soon.

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