David De Gea close to finalising Manchester United contract extension
Manchester United are nearing an agreement with long-serving goalkeeper David De Gea on a new contract with reduced terms, sources have confirmed to 90min.
The 32-year-old Spaniard has been in talks with United since last year about a new deal, with his current contract due to expire at the end of this season.
United have an option to trigger an automatic one-year extension on his current terms, but have not utilised it - and have instead looked to agree a wage reduction with De Gea from his current £375,000-a-week earnings. De Gea is currently United's highest paid player and United have been looking to address their wage structure in recent months.
De Gea has now agreed to take a substantial pay cut in order to prolong his stay at Old Trafford.
Talks have been ongoing about the length of deal and other add-ons, but 90min understands that there are no "major" hurdles left to clear. Only finer details remain to be ironed out.
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United manager Erik ten Hag has made it clear to the club's hierarchy that a new deal for De Gea was the best option at this point, with other areas of the squad seen as a priority to strengthen ahead of next season over a new starting goalkeeper. 90min has however learned that signing a goalkeeper to provide more substantial competition for De Gea should not be ruled out in 2023.
De Gea has endured difficult moments this season - none more so than in last week's Europa League defeat against Sevilla - but is leading the Premier League's clean sheet table this season and has received public backing a number of times from his manager. Ten Hag sees De Gea as a key figure in the dressing room and one of his most trusted senior players.
De Gea reacted to the loss in Europe with an excellent display in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Brighton and the United boss was quick to praise his number one.
“I was very impressed with him, he made some brilliant saves. It hurt when he made mistakes on Thursday. Often when you make mistakes as a keeper you get punished. We let him down, we didn’t fight back for him,” he said.
De Gea himself has never hidden his desire to stay at United beyond this season.
"I've been in very tough moments for this club. Now I'm enjoying it more," De Gea said earlier this month. I think it’s everything, a good manager, good players who bring experience to the team, people who want the ball, who play well with the ball. It’s a mix of everything.
"Everyone is thinking in the same way, playing in the same way. The team spirit is great from everyone, everyone fights until the end, and everyone is ready from the bench to perform well. It’s great to watch the team playing and performing well."
On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders & Rob Blanchette discuss Man Utd's progress to the FA Cup final following a penalty shootout win over Brighton, and Thursday's crucial Premier League trip to Spurs.
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