Relief for Manchester United, Real Madrid drop their interest in De Gea
Mar 22, 2016 at 2:10 PM
Real Madrid have suddenly dropped all their interest in signing Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea despite almost landing the Spaniard last summer.
The 25-year-old shot-stopper was on the brink of a sensational move to Real before a fax machine gaffe which meant vital paperwork was not delivered to Spain before the transfer deadline. De Gea subsequently penned a new contract with Manchester United until at least 2019 despite his troubled relationship with manager van Gaal. However, reports suggest the new deal might have a release clause which can be triggered by Real Madrid at the end of the season.
And now according to a report from Marca, Zinedine Zidane have dropped all interest to secure the service of the Spaniard.
The news certainly comes as another major boost to Real Madrid’s Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas, who has now become the Los Blancos’ undisputed number one after he agreed on a lucrative new contract offered by president Florentino Perez, which would leave United supporters thanking their lucky stars that their best player over the past two seasons may not be moving on after all. A welcome relief for sure.
Navas has been in extraordinary form for Madrid so far, displaying some impressive game-saving performances against Celta Vigo, Levante and against Roma in the Champions League. He also superbly saved a penalty against Sevilla last Sunday.
On the other hand, Manchester United may not even be in the top half without the sensational services of David De Gea, who has a record 61 saves and 10 clean sheets in 26 Premier League matches this season.
And German news agency dpa cited, sources in the Madrid boardroom claims Navas is at the moment Madrid’s best option. They are quoted as saying: “Keylor Navas is a fans’ favourite and his performances have been top-drawer.”There is no need to search for another goalkeeper, and that includes De Gea.”
However, it looks unlikely that this latest story will disappear so quickly, with another Spanish publication AS contradictory to Marca’s report suggesting that Real Madrid President Florentino Perez will make a fresh bid to sign De Gea ahead of next season. Don’t be surprised if the De Gea to Real Madrid rumours continues to rumble on throughout this summer, even after this apparent claim from one of the club’s senior officials.