Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea is set to complete a move to La Liga giants Real Madrid this week, according to Spanish source La Razon.
The 24-year-old is going to join Los Merengues for £24.5m, ending a transfer saga that has been going on throughout the summer. The Spanish international has come to be regarded as one of the finest in his position in the world in the last year or so, and looks the ideal player to come in and replace club legend Iker Casillas, who left the Bernabeu to join Porto earlier this summer.
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However, it will be a major blow to the Red Devils, with the goalkeeper arguably being their best player in recent times. Last season manager Louis van Gaal came to rely on the stopper to make up for his error-prone defence. Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, and Jonny Evans all had De Gea to thank for making sure their mistakes weren’t more costly during the campaign.
United have already brought Sergio Romero to the club this summer, but the Argentine international is likely to be a replacement for Victor Valdes, who has been linked with a quick exit from the club after rumours of interest from Valencia [Daily Mirror]. As a result they may have to make another signing to replace De Gea, and Tottenham ‘keeper Hugo Lloris has been linked as a possible candidate [Metro].
De Gea could follow other big names like Robin van Persie and Nani in leaving Old Trafford in this transfer window, with Van Gaal continuing to make numorous changes to the squad after also bringing in Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Matteo Darmian, as well as Romero in goal.