AS things stand, Manchester United are without a first-choice goalkeeper. David de Gea’s contract expired at the end of June, making him a free agent. If the 2023/24 season was to start now, Erik Ten Hag would be left with a choice between Dean Henderson, who spent last season out on loan, and 37-year-old Tom Heaton as his number one.

Even when de Gea was still on the books, there was a growing acknowledge of United’s need for a new first-choice goalkeeper. The 32-year-old made a number of costly mistakes towards the end of last season with his struggles in playing out from the back also highlighted. De Gea has become a misfit under a possession-orientated coach like Ten Hag.

Manchester United are wise to be assessing replacements, but the way they have handled de Gea’s future has been shameful. The Spaniard might not be the right goalkeeper for Ten Hag’s team, but he remains a club legend. After all de Gea has done for United, he deserves better than this.

Recent reports claim Manchester United offered de Gea a contract extension on lower wages months ago, but withdrew it once the Spaniard put pen to paper. Now, United are offering de Gea an even lower salary with the 32-year-old now believed to be considering his options – de Gea reportedly has an offer from Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.

If de Gea has already departed Manchester United never to return, he will have been denied the chance to say a proper farewell. He has called Old Trafford home since 2011, but the club has pushed him out the back door this summer. The whole episode has been farcical and doesn’t reflect well on the people calling the shots at United.

Post-Sir Alex Ferguson, de Gea was Manchester United’s only elite level player. He was the best goalkeeper in the world for a period and the only thing preventing United from tumbling even further down the Premier League table. De Gea, however, hasn’t been world class for a number of seasons. He remains capable of a jaw-dropping save from time-to-time, but errors are just as common.

In a football sense, Manchester United might end up with a goalkeeper who is more suitable for Ten Hag’s style of play. Andre Onana has emerged as the club’s top target with Inter braced for an offer for the Cameroonian number one who played under Ten Hag at Ajax. The pair could be reunited in the Premier League.

Onana, as he demonstrated in the Champions League final against Manchester City, is an exceptional distributor of the ball and would give United a different dimension. The 27-year-old is also known for his shot-stopping ability, making him a suitable replacement for de Gea who was one of the best at producing reflex saves.

Porto’s Diogo Costa and Brentford’s David Raya have also been mentioned as options with Manchester United reportedly enquiring about the availability of Feyenoord number one Justin Bijlow, but Onana appears to be the goalkeeper they have settled on as their top target. The coming weeks could see a transfer agreed.

It’s not that Manchester United don’t need a new goalkeeper, it’s that the way de Gea has been publicly humiliated says something about how the club treats legends. Rio Ferdinand once pointed the finger at Ed Woodward for denying him a proper sendoff as a United player and de Gea has been slighted in a similar way. Even if this is goodbye, it should have a warmer goodbye than this.