Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is aiming to replace "naive" David de Gea as the first-choice goalkeeper with the club lining up a move for Eintracht Frankfurt's Kevin Trapp.
Ten Hag is hopeful the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro will spark a late transfer spending spree by the club, as Mirror Football exclusively reported this week that United are lining up several more additions. Goalkeeper is one priority position, with Trapp and Borussia Monchengladbach's Yann Sommer thought to be on the Red Devils' shortlist.
It comes after the United boss ripped into De Gea after his side's humiliating four-goal loss at Brentford earlier this month, describing his decision-making as "naive" and a key reason behind the embarrassing collapse.
De Gea made errors for each of Brighton's goals the previous week; he failed to cut out a ball across the face of the goal for the opener before palming the second into the path of Pascal Gross for a tap-in. But those errors were not on the scale of his showing at Brentford.
The first goal that started kick-United's collapse was him failing to stop a simple shot from outside the box. Inexplicably, the ball went through his gloves and into the net.
Minutes later, his pass to Christian Eriksen inside the area was swiftly seized upon by the incoming Brentford forward, resulting in the Bees doubling their lead. De Gea was weak, flapping and ineffective for the third from a corner.
Discussing the second goal, involving Eriksen, Ten Hag responded: "Yes, but he didn't have to receive the ball there, because we give options and the players have to choose but we said play long, invite them and play long.
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"I don't want to play from the back when it's not possible. It was naive how we played today, you have to play more direct. We attracted them, the space was high up the pitch, you have to do that option but that is what we didn't do."
While De Gea produced an error-free display in United's spirited defeat of Liverpool on Monday night, the club are hopeful of adding a new goalkeeper to challenge his position within the team and even replacing him as the number one shot-stopper.
A report from German outlet Bild claimed that United would be willing to offer an annual wage of €10million (£8.4m) to Trapp, who played a key role in his side's Europa League triumph last season. The hugely experienced 32-year-old has previously represented Paris Saint-Germain and is seen as being more comfortable at playing out from the back than De Gea.
There is an acceptance at United that they need an experienced goalkeeper who can swiftly adapt to a new team and would not cost a significant amount of money, as United's budget is focused on other positions within their squad.
A longer-term replacement for De Gea may be pursued next summer, when the Spaniard is out of contract, depending on Dean Henderson's position following the end of his loan spell at Nottingham Forest.
A report from German outlet FFH outlines that Frankfurt have not yet received an offer but are not keen to let their shot-stopper depart. They are anticipating an offer in the region of £8m.
Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner said on Monday of the goalkeeper's future, in a cryptic response: "I'm not the last decision-maker. From a sporting point of view, I would of course like to keep such a great goalkeeper and person. He's a great role model. Always one of the first in training."
