Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal says the the club have offered David de Gea “a lot of money” in a bid to keep the goalkeeper at Old Trafford. De Gea is in the running to win the PFA Player of the Year award following a string of fine performances for United.
In January Van Gaal said he expected the 24-year-old to extend his contract, which expires in June 2016, but three months on, there are no signs of progress. That is not due to a lack of willing on United’s part. They have offered the Spaniard a bumper new deal as they are desperate for him to stay, Van Gaal has revealed.
“It takes a long time now,” the United boss said when asked how negotiations are progressing. “It can always happen. I am not the boss. I want him to stay. The player is the boss he can say yes or no. You will have to ask David de Gea (if he is staying), not me. He has to sign. We have offered him a lot of money.”
Although Van Gaal wants the former Atletico Madrid man to stay, he at least knows he already has a tailor-made replacement in three-time Champions League winner Victor Valdes, who has not played for United since signing on a free transfer in January.
You get the sense from United fans that they are quietly resigned to De Gea moving back to Madrid. Having Valdes waiting in the wings, plus the potential of Gareth Bale coming to Old Trafford as part of a deal for De Gea, makes his pending departure hurt less than when Ronaldo left to go to Real.
