British media revealed that Manchester United's contract extension with goalkeeper David De Gea is close to reaching an agreement. The 32-year-old Spain international will receive a new weekly salary of £250,000, nearly £130,000 lower than the current £375,000. In this way, he will no longer be the top salary of the team, behind Casemiro, Varane and Sancho, and on par with Martial, Bruno Fernandez and others.
De Gea completed United's 400-game milestone last week and equalled Schmeichel's clean sheet. After the game, he made it clear that talks for a contract extension with Manchester United would have a "good ending".
In the Europa League draw away to Barcelona 2-2 in midweek, although De Gea conceded two goals, the goal loss had little to do with him, and the Manchester United goalkeeper also had a number of wonderful saves to clear shots from Lewandowski, Alba and others. At 1-1, he jumped up and caught Rafinha's blast firmly, causing the Brazilian winger to scratch his head incredulously.
De Gea is confident that Manchester United will qualify: 'It's always great to play the second leg at home with our fans, we're in good form. De Gea said: "It was a good game against a great team. The game is still open, so let's see if we can play better football next Thursday and try to win again. It's perfect for us to come back to Old Trafford to play our game and win."
De Gea will remain United's regular goalkeeper in the short term, but the club are also considering his long-term replacement, with the Sun newspaper saying Leeds United's French goalkeeper Illan Mellier is one of Ten Hag's favourites.
United's other goalkeeper will be 25-year-old Dean Henderson, who is set to end his loan spell at Nottingham Forest this summer, but he will be sold as he wants a first-team start that cannot be achieved at Old Trafford.
Manchester United will continue to use De Gea and wait for better candidates to emerge in the future. Among them is 22-year-old Mellier, who currently needs exercise. However, if Leeds United are relegated this season, Mélier is likely to leave immediately, and United will have to move quickly to prevent him from joining other teams.
Leeds United lost 1-0 away to Everton on Saturday and fell into the relegation zone by one point. Mellier made a positional mistake during the game and Coleman fired a hard shot from a tight angle that pierced his 10-finger barrier, and the Leeds United goalkeeper stood too far away from the goal line to watch the ball go into the net. Mélier will be criticised if United concede a goal like this, so Ten Hag is in no hurry to bring him in, believing he needs further exercise.
The Manchester Evening News reported that Ten Hag's Manchester United starting line-up currently lacks two players, including a top centre-forward and a younger playmaker.
As for the goalkeeper position, it is not the position that is most in dire need of signing. Although Manchester United may usher in the ownership of Qatar oil and get a rich new owner, because of UEFA's new financial rules, it is not possible to spend money arbitrarily, and it is necessary to live within its means, and the new midfielder and striker may spend a huge amount of two or three hundred million, which means that the goalkeeper signing may need to be postponed until next year.