Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea is set to make Manchester United waiting until at least January before he signs his new contract.
After many months of speculation, de Gea agreed a new deal in principle over the summer, worth £350,000 a week. However, it now transpires that United fans celebrated too early the fact that the club had secured the future of one of its biggest stars, because the 28 year old has not yet signed the new six year deal.
One issue at stake is the club’s avowed policy of automatically reducing players’ wages by 25% in the event that the club fails to qualify for the Champions League, with de Gea unwilling to take a pay cut if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer falls short of that target this year.
And the goalkeeper appears to hold all the cards in this negotiation. He is out of contract next summer which means he is free to talk to overseas clubs in January, with both Real Madrid and PSG long standing admirers.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.