Manchester United target Jan Oblak is reportedly set to put pen to a new bumper contract at Atletico Madrid, which will include a €100 million release clause.
As per a report from Spanish publication MARCA, Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak is on the verge of signing a new contract with La Liga heavyweights Atletico Madrid, which is set to come as a blow for Manchester United, who were interested in him.
Manchester United are facing the risk of losing current first-choice goalkeeper David de Gea, as the Spaniard will be entering the final year of his current contract with the club. Negotiations over a new deal have been ongoing for quite some time now, but the two parties haven’t been able to reach an agreement.
Reports have claimed that de Gea is holding out for a pay packet of £350,000-a-week, which would make him the best-paid goalkeeper in the world. However, Manchester United have so far refused to meet the Spanish international’s demands, which has led to speculations surrounding his future, with French champions PSG lurking.
Should Manchester United fail to convince de Gea to extend his stay at the club, they are believed to be putting a contingency plan in place, with the report from MARCA claiming that the Premier League giants were lining up Atletico Madrid keeper Oblak as a potential replacement.
Oblak, since joining Atletico from Benfica in 2014, has gone on to establish himself as one of the finest custodians in the game. The 26-year-old Slovenian has been churning out top-class performances week in week out for Los Rojiblancos, keeping 114 clean sheets from 202 appearances till date.
If de Gea was to leave Manchester United in the summer, Oblak would have been the perfect replacement for the Spaniard. However, the Red Devils’ hopes of signing the 26-year-old are likely to have taken a hit as the report claims that he is set to sign a new contract with Atletico Madrid.
Oblak’s current deal with Diego Simeone’s side runs till the summer of 2021. Talks of an extension have been afoot for a while now, but the club had decided not to make anything official till the La Liga title race reaches a conclusion. Now that Atletico Madrid are very much out of the race after their 2-0 defeat to Barcelona last weekend, they are set to finalize the deal as per the report.
While there are no mentions of the wages that Oblak will be taking home or the length of the contract, the report does specify that he will become Atletico Madrid’s second-highest earner behind star attacker Antoine Griezmann, while his deal will also consist a release clause worth €100 million.
The €100 million price, in the current state of the transfer market, doesn’t seem all too steep. However, Manchester United’s first priority should be to get de Gea to sign an extension and commit his future to the club. Should they fail to do that, Oblak would be a great alternative and they have the financial muscle to pull off a deal.
