David de Gea leaving?
The Stipulations of his potential departure
If David de Gea were to leave Man Utd, it could have some serious ramifications for Erik ten Hag and his side. While it is not yet set in stone that he is to leave this transfer window, it’s not set that he isn’t either.
But what could a potential exit for the goalkeeper mean for MUFC? Lets take a look.
Budget
His departure would mean ZERO pounds into the club as his contract expires next month. David will be able to leave for FREE and go where he will next season. This is poor from the club point of view as to let the contract situation get to where it is with a player of de Gea’s calibre potentially leave on a free is down right dumb.
We’ve seen this happen before with the likes of Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba and Nemaja Matic, just to name a few. Had the club handled their business properly, all of these players could’ve been sold for a decent price helping the club bring in some money.
de Gea is just another example of United waiting too long to renew a player’s contract resulting in him possibly leaving on a free. The money the club could’ve gotten if they were able to sell David would help in transfers for this window.
As that can’t happen, we will lose out on a decent fee for the goalkeeper which helps us no end in finding a replacement.
With the ownership still being undecided, we don’t how much money there will be for new transfers. Getting in some cash for our number one could’ve helped a great deal and as there are so many areas in the team to resolve, does this mean manager ten Hag has to rethink his priorities?
We never learn 🤦♂️. Why do we leave things so late? 😩
Effects on transfers
I don’t think that goalkeeper is a high priority in terms of the positions we need to strengthen. It is a position to improve but striker/s, midfielder/s and another top centre-back are all areas I think we should improve on before a ‘keeper.
I do feel that Erik ten Hag thinks this way as well as we’ve been more linked to players in these other positions compared to goalkeeper. As per this recent news though, goalkeeper will now be a high priority for the manager if de Gea were to leave.
Who to replace him? Will we need to spend big on a goalkeeper? Does that mean sacrificing a signing in another position? Does Dean Henderson become the new number one? These are all valid questions that needs answering. de Gea is the man who holds all the cards in this.
How much would a new goalkeeper cost? Well, the major target that’s been linked to United has been Diogo Costa. The Porto and Portugal number one is a name that pops up most when concerning potential new shot-stoppers for the Red Devils. The Manchester Evening News have reported that he will cost in the region of £70m. Yeesh 😬, that’s a lot for a goalie.
£70m out of, how much? And we still need:
- 2 strikers (preferably an out-and-out number 9 and a youngster)
- 2 midfielders (a defensive-minded one and a number 8)
- a centre-back who could rival Varane and Martinez
Impossible to get all of those in this transfer window but if United want to compete with the best, they will have to spend big.
But if not Costa, then David Raya of Brentford has been mentioned despite it looking likely he’ll go to Spurs and in the past couple of days, former Ajax player Andre Onana has emerged as a potential de Gea replacement. They will cost a decent fee as well.
If we are to spend that £70m on Costa, which positions will ten Hag have to sacrifice? Finding a new goalkeeper will take a large chunk out of the budget explaining why ten Hag will have to choose which other positions and players he would like to join his rebuild. And choose wisely he must.
The other areas I’ve mentioned would cost a hell of a lot of money for United to do. Some of these do look more destined to join other clubs but the fee their current employers want for them is still staggering.
Kim Min-Jae is a name that’s been linked to MUFC for a while. He’s the cheapest of them all with an asking price of £41m. But he appears set to join Bayern Munich. Moises Caicedo has also been heavily linked to United but the Brighton man seems to be joing the blue half of London. But Chelsea will be asked to pay a fee of £100m. That is far too much for him whether United were favorites for him or not.
Talking of Chelsea, Mason Mount looks likely that he will join ten Hag’s side. The Blues are asking for around £70m for the midfielder. Moving into the striking position, young Danish centre-forward Rasmus Hojlund has an asking price of £86m. The 21-year-old is highly rated explaining that high fee. But the forward that ten Hag seems to favor the most is Napoli striker Victor Osimhen. He is sort after by many clubs and also having had the season he’s had, £120m is the amount set for him.
If United were to try and get all of these players at these current asking prices, it would cost just the £417m 🙃. This is without the £70m of a goalkeeper.
That is why ten Hag needs to pick which positions and players are an absolute must for the next season.
Kind of a lot going on should United need a change of goalkeeper. So much for just one player/position.
Which of these players, including goalkeeper, would you like to see United sign? For me, Osimhen, Caicedo and Kim Min-Jae are the players and positions I’d be looking for. Two of them are set for other clubs but still, they’re the ones I’d prefer.
Here is a post I did of de Gea earlier in the season.
#MUFC #GGMU #DAVIDDEGEA #ERIKTENHAG #GLAZERSOUT
