BINH DUONG
Manchester United have just "turned the tables" by offering goalkeeper David De Gea a lower salary, even though the two sides had previously agreed to extend his contract.
De Gea conceded a goal in the FA Cup final defeat to Man City. Photo: football365
According to the agreement in early June, De Gea accepted a salary of 255,000 USD/week, a sharp decrease compared to the 475,000 USD/week last season, which "turned" him into the highest-paid goalkeeper in the world and the Spanish player with the highest treatment. However, on June 27, the "Red Devils" unexpectedly replaced it with an offer with a lower salary. If he does not agree, the 32-year-old goalkeeper will become a free player from July 1.
What made Man United treat a veteran who had devoted 12 years to the club, helping the team achieve a record of 190 clean sheets and himself playing more matches than any goalkeeper in the club's history? According to Goal, the club's board of directors was forced to act like that in order to be able to recruit a goalkeeper who truly fits Man United's style of play and bring the club back to the top of English and European football.
De Gea is no longer suited to Man United's style of play. The truth is that he has made many mistakes at important times of the season, costing his team dearly. Although he won the Golden Glove award for the goalkeeper who kept the most clean sheets in the Premier League (EPL) last season with 17 matches, De Gea has made many mistakes that led to goals. For example, in the 0-4 defeat to Brentford at the beginning of the season, he was at fault for all three of the first goals conceded. Then against Everton in the FA Cup, De Gea also "gifted" the opponent a goal, while the crushing defeat to Sevilla in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals was his worst performance in 545 appearances for Man United. De Gea's confusing season ended with a fatal mistake in the match against West Ham as well as the FA Cup final loss to Manchester City. A save rate of less than 70% has pushed De Gea down to 10th place in the list of goalkeepers who have played at least 500 minutes in the EPL.
In addition to the above problems, De Gea also cannot adapt to the demands of modern football and is clearly clumsy in distributing the ball with his feet, especially when pressed. This is one of the main reasons why De Gea has not been called up to the Spanish national team since 2020. Among EPL goalkeepers, he ranks 12th in terms of passing accuracy per match. These shortcomings have been "closely examined" by coach Erik ten Hag since he took over Man United last summer. Ten Hag had to abandon his plan to control the ball more at home and was forced to adopt a different style of play compared to when he led Ajax Amsterdam, where goalkeeper Andre Onana played very well with his feet. In the recent Champions League final, although Onana's Inter Milan lost, he personally left an impression with his confident dribbling and short passes. This is also the transfer target that Man United is aiming to replace.
De Gea.
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