Manchester United are confident goalkeeper David de Gea will sign a new long-term contract at Old Trafford following Thibaut Courtois’ move to Real Madrid, Sky Sports News understands.
The 27-year-old has been repeatedly linked with a move to the Bernabeu since 2015, when United and Real agreed a £29m deal which would see Keylor Navas moving in the opposite direction in part exchange, only for the move to fall through when the paperwork was not completed in time.
The Old Trafford club were keen to begin talks with goalkeeper De Gea’s representatives and their hand has been strengthened by Thibaut Courtois’ £35m move to Real Madrid from Chelsea.
Courtois’ transfer from Chelsea to join the European champions last week means United are increasingly optimistic of agreeing a new contract with De Gea.
The Spaniard’s present deal at Old Trafford expires in 2019 with a further year existing as an option to be triggered by the club.
De Gea, who was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson from Atletico Madrid for £18.9m in 2011, has won United’s player-of-the-year award in four of the past five seasons.
He is the only United player to win Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award – which was first introduced in 1988 – on four occasions. Cristiano Ronaldo won it three times (2004, 2007 and 2008), while Brian McClair, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney have each won it twice.
Last season, De Gea won the Premier League’s Golden Glove award for the first time as he helped United 18 clean sheets and was also included in the Professional Footballers’ Association team of the year.
He has also won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League since joining United.
What Happened in 2015?
Real released a statement saying they did everything they could to complete the £29m deal of the then 24-year-old, but missed the deadline by two minutes.
ollowing yesterday’s events in relation to the intended signing of the player David de Gea, Real Madrid wishes to state:
1.- Manchester United did not open any channel of negotiation over the federative rights of David de Gea until yesterday morning.
2.- Real Madrid, despite the difficulties entailed in carrying out a deal of these characteristics on the final day of registration, agreed to begin these talks.
3.- When Manchester United agreed to negotiate yesterday morning, they made it subject to reaching an agreement with Real Madrid’s Keylor Navas for the player to join the British club from this season, and stated that they were in contact with the aforementioned player’s representatives.
4.- Real Madrid and Manchester United quickly reached an agreement for the transfers of both players. Following the drawing up of the relevant contractual documentation required, and with the purpose of proceeding with enough time to process both FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) and the registration with the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, Real Madrid sent Manchester United the contracts at 13.39 Spanish time.
5.- Manchester United sent their remarks regarding the aforementioned contracts eight hours later, at 21.43 Spanish time, including minor modifications. As these modifications were not significant, they were all accepted immediately by Real Madrid, with the intention of being able to register the player on time both via the TMS and with the Liga de Fútbol Profesional.
6.- Real Madrid, having obtained the signatures of the players De Gea and Keylor Navas, sent the British club the aforementioned signed contracts at 23:32 Spanish time, before waiting to receive the final documents signed by Manchester United.
7.- Manchester United reached a final agreement with the representatives of Keylor Navas at 23:53 Spanish time, and it is at this point that the contracts were sent to the player to be signed.
8.- Manchester United entered the details of the David de Gea deal, not those of Keylor Navas, at 00:00 Spanish time, simultaneously sending Real Madrid the signed transfer contracts. Real Madrid received this complete documentation at 00:02 and attempted to access the TMS, but it was now closed.
9.- At 00:26 Spanish time, FIFA’s TMS invited Real Madrid to fill out the details of the player David de Gea, as the period of registration in England remains open until today. Real Madrid, given the possibility of an administrative dispute over the player’s transfer, decided to send the contracts to the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, despite the knowledge that the deadline had passed.
10.- In short, Real Madrid did everything necessary at all times to complete both transfers.
But United say they submitted all the paperwork two minutes before 23:00 BST.
The Red Devils added: “The club is delighted that its fan-favourite double player of the year, David De Gea, remains a Manchester United player.”
Keylor Navas, 28 – who had been poised to move in the other direction – has been Real’s number one since the club allowed Iker Casillas to join Porto.
De Gea joined United from Real’s city rivals Atletico Madrid in 2011 in an £18.9m deal.
After several high-profile errors in his first few months in England, he established himself as one of the league’s top keepers and made 175 United appearances in total.