"It's the single most difficult position in English football," according to Gary Neville.
It's now the single most difficult job which Erik ten Hag has to do in the summer transfer window; deciding Manchester United 's No.1 goalkeeper. It was a saga months in the making and now we're in the thick of it, closing in on a dramatic climax.
After 12 years of service - some forgettable, many unforgettable - David de Gea is no longer under contract at Old Trafford, having seen his £375,000-a-week deal expire on Saturday, the day of his wedding. But United aren't ready to move on from their four-time Player of the Year award winner just yet, at least not until they've found a worthy successor.
Ten Hag and the Red Devils' recruitment team are scrambling around for a solution, torn over whether or not to spend big on a new goalkeeper who'd either replace or challenge De Gea, as the clock ticks towards the start of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign. So, as we approach just one week until United's first pre-season friendly, you're fully entitled to ask, 'What the heck is going on?'.
Mirror Football has got you covered, as we unravel the current, convoluted goalkeeping situation at Old Trafford.
Where does De Gea stand?
'Congratulations, David, you're now a married man - and a free agent'. Essentially, that was what Manchester United had to tell their long-serving No.1 on Saturday, although he fully expected to see his previous contract run out a day earlier on June 30.
The Spaniard had spent much of last season negotiating a new deal, one which would see his wages drastically decrease. De Gea and the club went so far that a contract was literally on the table and he happily signed it - but then United had other ideas.
Thanks to the 32-year-old's error-laden end to the campaign, Erik ten Hag decided that he could no longer guarantee De Gea the role of first-choice goalkeeper. Ten Hag and the Red Devils hierarchy still wanted to keep him, but only if he took an even heftier pay cut.
That leads us to where we are now, two months on from De Gea's Premier League Golden Glove win. It was reported over the weekend that after tying the knot with Edurne Garcia, his partner of 12 years, De Gea would hold face-to-face talks with club chiefs.
The 45-time capped Spain international - now out of La Roja's thoughts because of his poor distribution, also one of Ten Hag's gripes - is claimed to have interest from Saudi Arabia, particularly an alleged offer from Al-Nassr, where Cristiano Ronaldo now plays his football. Yet De Gea's desire to stay put and continue to represent the club which he's served well ever since becoming the world's most expensive goalkeeper in 2011, when Sir Alex Ferguson took a punt and signed him from Atletico Madrid as a teenager, remains.
Many fans feel that their beloved shot-stopper has been let down by United, while others can't wait to see him leave - or be demoted to No.2. But all supporters want this situation resolved quickly and Ten Hag isn't willing to stand idly by either.
Who has Ten Hag targeted?
As the end of last season dawned, two goalkeepers stood out as De Gea's potential successors due to continuous reports regarding the Red Devils' apparent interest. Those were Brentford ace David Raya and Porto's Diogo Costa.
Premier League-proven Raya has showed what he's all about ever since breaking through at Blackburn Rovers as a youngster, while Costa is already a fully-fledged Portugal international and turned out for his nation at the World Cup. Fans were divided on who'd be best, only for Ten Hag to select his preferred target - and it wasn't either of them.
Andre Onana, the former Barcelona academy prospect who worked with Ten Hag over four years at Ajax, helped Inter Milan reach the Champions League final during his first term in Italy with a series of world-class displays. Due to Inter's well-documented financial issues, though, the Serie A giants are open to selling him and talks began between their bigwigs and United last week.
As Mirror Football reported on Saturday, however, the Red Devils aren't willing to cough up the £60million asking price. That's due to United only having £120m to spend this summer and first signing Mason Mount costing nearly half of that.
Fortunately, Ten Hag already had a contingent plan in place for this exact scenario, identifying Eintracht Frankfurt stalwart Kevin Trapp and Feyenoord's Justin Bijlow as backups. While Onana, 27, would surely come in as first-choice, Trapp and Bijlow are more likely to compete with De Gea - should he eventually sign a contract extension.
An international for the Netherlands and now a Dutch champion with Feyenoord, Bijlow is someone who Ten Hag knows well and the Athletic claim that there's already been contact between the clubs over a potential move. Trapp, meanwhile, rejected United's advances last summer and has since signed a new deal which keeps him in Frankfurt until 2026 with the option of a further year.
But with De Gea now dislodged, perhaps the German will consider making the switch this summer. Another star of the Bundesliga and reported Red Devils target, Yann Sommer, might fancy a crack, too, having joined Bayern Munich in January to cover for injured legend Manuel Neuer, who's now nearing full fitness ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.
Even England and Everton's Jordan Pickford has been linked - just don't tell Roy Keane. Are we not missing someone obvious, though?
Have your say! Who should be Manchester United's No.1 goalkeeper next season? Let us know in the comments section.
What about Henderson?
Once considered the heir apparent to De Gea, it seems as if Dean Henderson's future is destined for anywhere but Old Trafford. Following a positive loan spell with Nottingham Forest last season, the Manchester Evening News claim that Henderson fully expects to join the Premier League side on a permanent basis.
The United academy graduate is now 26 but still of potential, most of which has been showcased across loan spells with five different clubs. Henderson - currently recovering from a thigh operation - claims that he didn't even want Ten Hag to see him train last summer because he was adamant that the Dutch boss would want to keep him to compete with De Gea.
The ever-confident shot-stopper added that spending the 2021-22 campaign at Old Trafford was "criminal," having turned down "so many" good loan offers. With all that water under the bridge, then, could Ten Hag turn Henderson's heart and convince him to stay?
Maybe if De Gea departed and Ten Hag promised not to bring anyone else in, but that's an unlikely outcome. The issue in every above scenario is how much uncertainty currently surrounds the Old Trafford net.
Right now, 37-year-old Tom Heaton best get ready to be handed the gloves for the Red Devils' first pre-season friendly on July 12.
