David de Gea signed a contract extension with Manchester United - only for the club to pull out of the agreement, it's emerged.
The Spanish goalkeeper has entered the final week of his current £375,000-a-week deal, with United choosing not to trigger a one-year extension clause during the course of last season. De Gea, 32, then entered negotiations with the Red Devils, who presented him with a new proposal which included a drastic wage reduction.
It's claimed by The Athletic that the four-time United Player of the Year accepted their offer and even signed the deal, but club chiefs got cold feet and pulled out. The Red Devils have now offered De Gea another contract with an even lower salary. The 32-year-old is yet to sign it, putting him on course to become a free agent this Saturday amid interest from Saudi Arabia.
Mirror Football understands that De Gea's chances of negotiating improved terms at the eleventh hour were boosted last week due to United manager Erik ten Hag's reluctance to spend a significant portion of his transfer budget on a new goalkeeper.
The ex- Spain international would ideally like to stay at Old Trafford and build on his 12-season stay in Manchester which has seen him lift eight trophies. However, De Gea has been told that he isn't guaranteed to be the club's first-choice goalkeeper next term.
This follows a series of errors towards the end of the 2022-23 campaign which cost Ten Hag's side dearly. The Red Devils boss maintained throughout the torrid run that he wanted to keep De Gea, who's been at United since 2011 when Sir Alex Ferguson signed him to replace the long-serving Edwin van der Sar.
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Asked by The Times last month whether he expects De Gea to remain with the Red Devils, Ten Hag replied: "Yes, but I will not say he'll always be my No.1 because in a club like Man United there must be competition in all positions. You can't do it with 11 players. It is impossible. You need double positions."
Even after one of De Gea's worst performances, coming in the 1-0 defeat to West Ham, the Dutch manager backed him. "He has the most clean sheets in the league so we would not be here in this position without him," Ten Hag declared post-match.
"He fully has my belief. No concerns with him. It happens but as a team you have to deal with it, show character, be resilient and bounce back. We want him to stay and extend his contract."
De Gea insisted that he was confident over his future back in February, saying: "We're still talking. I'm just focused on the game, that's the most important thing, but for sure it's going to end in a good way."
