Man Utd place £100m man at top of list to replace De Gea

Manchester United will move for Jan Oblak if David De Gea quits Old Trafford this summer, claims The Metro.

The tabloid reports that “sources” have told them that Man Utd “have retained their interest in the Slovenian and he’s considered the ideal replacement should De Gea leave.”

Spain keeper De Gea has so far refused to sign a new deal and there are apparently genuine fears that he could leave this summer for a cut-price fee – with his deal running down – or next summer for free.

De Gea has around 15 months to run on his current contract and the club have made little progress in negotiations over an extension with De Gea understood to want parity with top-earner Alexis Sanchez, who is on around £400,000-a-week.

United are desperate to keep hold of De Gea, 28, but they will not match Sanchez’s huge salary and are believed to have drawn up a contingency plan which involves Slovenia keeper Oblak.

Only last week Atletico announced that Oblak had put pen to paper on a new deal until 2023, and that now means any club looking to lure him out of the contract will have to meet his release clause, which stands at a mammoth £103m.

Oblak though is younger than De Gea at 26 and United are more likely to stump up £100m-plus for a player who could still have a resale value in three or four years.

De Gea has contemplated leaving United twice before in 2015 and 2017 when Real Madrid tried luring him to the Bernabeu and two years ago Oblak was on the list to replace him.