Manchester United’s struggles for a fourth consecutive season after the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson may provide the perfect opportunity for La Liga giants Real Madrid to snap up one of their biggest stars in David De Gea.
The Spanish goalkeeper has long been wanted by Los Blancos. In fact, one of the biggest transfer fiascoes in recent history came about when a late deal for De Gea between Man United and Real fell through because of a broken fax machine in the summer of 2015.
The 26-year-old has since signed a new four-year deal with the Red Devils, with an option to extend it by a year. The deal keeps him at Old Trafford till 2019 at least, but speculation has been rife of a mysterious release clause in his contract.
The latest news on that front is that the release clause is €60 million, according to Spanish publication Marca. This would be the highest transfer fee paid for a goalkeeper, eclipsing the €40.29 million that Juventus paid Parma for Gianluigi Buffon.
De Gea himself has remained silent on the issue of a possible release clause, and Manchester United are unlikely to even talk about it. Interestingly, there were earlier reports that Real Madrid had an exclusive release clause which expired on 15th June 2016.
Real Madrid are not expected to be put off by the reported €60 million release clause, with the club hierarchy believed to be desperate to make the Spanish number one a Real Madrid player. DDG is now the the first choice for the national side ahead of his seniors Iker Casillas and Pepe Reina.
The 26-year-old has also been one of Manchester United’s biggest players over the past few seasons. De Gea has won the Player of the Season award for the past three seasons in a row — the first player to do so at Old Trafford.
However, the current plight of the Red Devils could convince De Gea that his future lies away from the club. Real could guarantee regular Champions League football and that is something Manchester United are struggling to offer these past few years.
Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas has been dependable between the sticks for Real Madrid so far, but that would not stop Florentino Perez from potentially replacing him with De Gea.
