DAVID de Gea is in a strong position when it comes to negotiating a contract extension that will keep him at Manchester United beyond 2020.
The 28-year-old, already in his eighth season at the club, is a genuine world class performer, one who can afford to let his contract run down and be more attractive to a suitor because he could move for free. The Bosman rule really plays to the advantage of football’s premium talents.
United benefitted from this when they signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez for free, but herein lies the problem. While the Swede, who arrived when he was 34 and wouldn’t have commanded a high transfer fee, was a success, the Chilean became United’s best paid player, in part because there was no huge transfer fee.
This created a new benchmark, one Manchester City feared before they pulled out of signing Sanchez. Better players – and there have been many at United over the last year – can argue that they deserve to be paid the same money as Sanchez when they too come to renew their contracts.
De Gea is one such and that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s been the stand out performer in the troubled post-Ferguson times and his agent has used this as a negotiating point since August. Replacing him would cost £80 million and more if the transfer fees paid by Chelsea for Kepa or Liverpool for Alisson Becker are indicators. It’s worth reminding that De Gea cost only £17 million. United should have signed Sergio Aguero, who left for Atletico for £20 million in the same summer, in the same swoop. The pair remain the best of friends in Manchester.
De Gea wants to stay, values the loyalty United and United fans have always shown to him.
Ole on @D_DeGea: "David's won so many points for us over the years. I would say he's the best goalkeeper in the world. His personality is fantastic — he's so humble but confident as well." #MUFC pic.twitter.com/M4yHiIxlNU
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 1, 2019
Most United fans are convinced he’s the best goalkeeper in the world, though that’s debatable. I’d say he’s in a group of five or six; I watch Barça’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen regularly and he’s as good as De Gea. You will find few Spaniards who think De Gea’s the world’s best after a poor World Cup.
When De Gea’s long-time suitors Real Madrid signed Thibaut Courtois, the heat was taken out of their once dogged pursuit of the United goalkeeper. Only Barça and Madrid can afford De Gea in Spain and who else is there? Man City have a top keeper in Ederson, Liverpool in fellow Brazilian Alisson. Chelsea are having a wobble with Kepa, but they bought him for the long term. A difficult first season is exactly what De Gea had when he came to England.
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— Unibet (@unibet) February 24, 2019
Paris Saint-Germain are considered as the only other realistic option for De Gea, but they have two exceptional goalkeepers in Parisian Alphonse Areola and Gianluigi Buffon, though the latter is 41. I went to the Parc de Princes in October and spoke to people at the club who told me there was a real willingness for Areola to become the mainstay.
There’s always a big bucks move to China as a possibility, but it’s understood De Gea has little interest in playing there. He wants to win trophies but while that’s less likely in at United than Madrid, he’s enjoyed being part of an improving team and is close mates with Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo. All three want to stay at United, with Mata and Herrera also in contract negotiations.
United are willing to pay £350,000 a week to make De Gea the top paid goalkeeper in football. It’s not enough and there are concerns about the agent fees. Sanchez’s wages – £400,000 per week taking into account bonuses and image rights – can be used as a bargaining chip. United have created this problem for themselves, not that fans complained when Sanchez signed.
Or look at it another way. United’s goalkeeper position could be boxed off for £20 million a year. On the surface, it’s a staggering amount of money for anyone to be paid to play sport, but that £20 million looks value for money compared to the £50 million fee paid for Fred. And the return for United is a long-term stability in the position with a goalie who can be a match-winner between the sticks. United, however, who already have the second highest wage bill in world football, need to proceed with caution.
Hindsight shows United got it wrong in giving Wayne Rooney a five-and-a-half-year deal in Feb 2014, one which would be up this summer had he not moved to Everton and then Washington. Rooney signed when United were weak and he was the best player, but he ceased to be soon after and the deal looked overly generous. Rooney didn’t need to take a pay cut to leave, but it’s to his credit that he did.
If anything, De Gea is still approaching his prime so he’s unlikely to be afflicted by the decline which beset Rooney and such is the rapid rate of inflation in footballers’ wages, perhaps even £400,000 per week won’t seem so stellar in a year or two, but City were right to be wary and so should United, a club who’ve long had wages under control. Then again, United’s revenues continue to rise.
At Barça, wages crept up to what the club considered to be an unsustainable 70% of turnover and cutbacks were needed. It helped that Everton were on hand to take three Barça players off their books, but clubs shouldn’t always buckle just because fans scream: ‘Pay him what he wants!’
United kept faith with De Gea during his rocky start, something which Solskjaer has pointed out recently: ‘The club showed how much they wanted him back in the day. There were probably keepers out there who were better at the time, but the belief the manager showed in him, with the criticism he got, paid dividends.’ Despite this, most of De Gea’s time at United has been bedevilled by rumours of him leaving. United felt he was going in 2015 because he patently wanted to leave, but he stayed and signed another contract. He doesn't say much – Ander Herrera claims that’s because he’s so engrossed in his PlayStation – but if he stays he’ll move towards United’s top five all-time appearances makers by the end of the contract.
If he genuinely wants to stay, then he should sign the contract on offer that will make him the best paid goalkeeper in the world.
A £10 bet on De Gea to keep a clean sheet vs Southampton returns £22.30
