David de Gea is the subject of interest from Spanish sides Villarreal and Valencia as they explore taking the Manchester United keeper on loan.
According to reputed journalist Rudy Galetti, Manchester United could be open to letting David de Gea out on loan for the coming season, with Villarreal and Valencia interested. The Spanish sides will readily take the goalkeeper temporarily, but his salary could be a problem for either of them.
It’s not been a good few seasons for De Gea as he has struggled for form and consistency between the posts for Manchester United. His top-notch performances earned him a bumper new contract back in 2019, but his form has dipped alarmingly ever since. It also saw him lose his Spain starting berth to Unai Simon at the Euros.
Last season, Dean Henderson was preferred for long periods, and for the first time in De Gea’s career at Manchester United, he truly dropped from the side. He did keep his place in the team for their Europa League run but again came under heavy criticism for his role in United’s defeat in the penalty shootout to Villarreal.
There have been rumours circulating about an imminent departure from Old Trafford since the end of last season, but nothing has transpired since. De Gea still has two years left on his huge contract and United could find it difficult to ship him off permanently if needed. However, they are open to a loan deal.
Villarreal and Valencia are understood to be interested in a loan move for De Gea. However, the hurdle could be the massive wages the Spanish International earns, as these sides surely cannot pay his full salary. If United agree to pay a major chunk of their No.1’s salary, then a deal might be on the cards.
The other question would be if De Gea would like to move to either one of those clubs. At Villarreal, he has the chance to continue playing in the Champions League, but it can’t be said the same about Valencia. Furthermore, at the end of last season, some big Spanish clubs were also exploring signing him. Atletico Madrid was one of them, as they mulled over the idea of a swap deal with United involving De Gea and Jan Oblak.
However, those links have gone cold, despite United still interested in getting rid of the Spaniard’s enormous wages. With no recent links or news of any other big club from Spain or elsewhere interested, will the keeper choose a club of considerably smaller stature for regular playing time?
Such a move could take some pressure off De Gea and let him play with some freedom. At 30 years of age, the Manchester United man still has plenty of years left in his career, considering keepers usually peak around this age.
