Manchester United
Premier League • England
Man Utd go against Ten Hag with stunning U-turn that could see trusted star booted out
Man Utd are risking the wrath of Erik ten Hag after a report revealed there is a growing split within the club regarding what to do with David de Gea.
De Gea hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons on Sunday with his costly error against West Ham. Pundit Gary Lineker was among those to mock the Spaniard, labelling him “David de Howler” in the aftermath.
De Gea’s tally of errors directly leading to a goal this season now stands at four. There had always been doubts over his suitability for Ten Hag given his limitations with his feet, though increasingly error-strewn displays with the gloves are churning up new questions.
Indeed, De Gea is out of contract at season’s end after United opted against activating a 12-month extension. The idea there was to forge a new, multi-year deal which the Manchester Evening News claimed was close.
TEAMtalk also learned Ten Hag has been the main driving force behind a new De Gea deal. The Dutchman made a strong case to the United board and has publicly backed his stopper following the West Ham blunder.
Ten Hag quickly turned the spotlight on the team as a whole rather than blame De Gea too harshly when asked about the Hammers mistake by BT Sport.
When asked if De Gea is his No 1 for the long haul in a separate interview, Ten Hag later replied: “We want him to stay and we want him to extend his contract.”
However, according to a fresh update from the MEN, a split is brewing at Old Trafford.
Man Utd don’t share Ten Hag faith in De Gea
They claim there are ‘growing doubts’ within the club as to whether De Gea should be the starting goalkeeper beyond this season.
Furthermore, it’s stated certain figures within United want De Gea moved on, as opposed to just dropped in favour of a different goalkeeper.
United have long been speculated to be in the market for a new stopper this summer. However, it was anticipated the new face would be a high class back-up to De Gea, not a regular starter.
The Red Devils are currently in discussions over a new deal for De Gea who will be expected to absorb a hefty pay-cut. He currently earns £375,000-a-week and outlets have speculated that could be slashed to around £200,000-a-week.
However, it’s highly unlikely De Gea would be willing to accept such a reduction if it also came with no longer being the regular starter.
What once seemed like a clear-cut outcome of De Gea signing a multi-year deal has now become cloudy.
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