Real Madrid are reportedly set to land David De Gea and will announce their agreement with the Manchester United goalkeeper after the Champions League final.
According to a report by Spanish publication Don Balon, Real Madrid have taken big steps to finally secure the services of David De Gea in the summer transfer window. Los Blancos have reached an agreement with the Manchester United goalkeeper, and will announce the same after the Champions League final.
De Gea has come a long way since being seen as a lanky liability upon his arrival at Manchester United in the summer of 2011. His evolution over the last seven years has not just seen him become the single most pivotal figure at Old Trafford, but also establish himself as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation.
The 2017-18 season also saw him reach the pinnacle of his Manchester United career on a personal level, winning the Premier League Golden Glove for the very first time, with 18 clean sheets. But, his status as one of the best goalkeepers in the world constantly puts a target on his back, with some of the best clubs in the world constantly after him – Real Madrid being chief among these.
In fact, Real Madrid’s interest in De Gea is well documented, with the Spanish heavyweights almost securing his services in the summer of 2015 before seeing the deal fall through in the wee hours of the transfer window. Since then, Los Blancos have been trying to swoop him away from Manchester United, but to no avail.
Heading into this summer’s transfer window though, Real Madrid are back in the market for a custodian and for good reason. Keylor Navas may have turned his form around in recent months, but he hasn’t been performing consistently over the last two seasons, while Kiko Casilla isn’t deemed good enough to be the first-choice goalkeeper.
De Gea is, thus, a viable target for Real Madrid, whose addition would also help beef up the Spanish core that Florentino Perez has been trying to create in recent windows. If the report is anything to go by, Los Blancos finally have an agreement in place to take the 27-year-old away from Manchester United, and will announce it after the Champions League final.
The suggestion comes as a heavy contradiction to De Gea’s own comments recently, wherein he insisted that he is happy at Manchester United and isn’t looking to move away from Old Trafford. If he has indeed turned back on his words, the Red Devils will have to accelerate the process of tying him down to a new deal.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid are willing to break the transfer record for a goalkeeper and pay as much as €80 million to secure his services, or even include Gareth Bale, who is a long-time target for Manchester United, in the deal.
However, it is likely that Manchester United will prefer holding on to their four-time Player of the Year. Whichever course the latest chapter in this transfer saga takes, it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the weeks to come as Real Madrid look to launch the offensive in pursuit of De Gea.
