Manchester United star David De Gea is ready to hand in a transfer request to force through a move to Real Madrid, reports The Sun.
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The 24-year-old was one of the Red Devils’ best performers last season, but it still looks like he could be leaving Old Trafford very soon. The player himself apparently expects to join Los Blancos win the next few weeks after his agent Jorge Mendes agreed a five-year, £130,000 a week deal with the club.
However, the Spain international fears the move being stalled by the two clubs negotiating over a fee. United have already turned down £18m according to The Sun, and Real will next offer £25m including add ons. If things continue to drag then De Gea is willing to submit a transfer request to speed things along.
If this goes through it will be a major blow to United boss Louis van Gaal. The 63-year-old needs to be strengthening his squad, not weakening it, over this summer after qualifying for the Champions League in the last campaign. Not only will the team have to deal with an extra competition, but they will also be expected to better the fourth place they managed in the league last time round. Without their star ‘keeper it will be far more difficult to do this.
United currently have Victor Valdes as a backup option, and it could be that Van Gaal will gamble on the veteran Spaniard as his new number one next season, as a club source indicated to the Daily Star.
Still, even if De Gea does prove replaceable, it would be a setback for the 2013 Premier League champions in their quest to re-establish themselves as a force in the game since the retirement of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, as they will not want to earn a reputation for being a selling club that cashes in on its stars rather than attempting to build as strong a team as possible in the challenge for silverware.