adminDAVID de Gea is hopeful of being able to see out his career at Manchester United as he closes in on a new contract.
The Spain goalkeeper, 32, is due to sign a new deal on reduced terms after signalling his willingness to accept a cut to his current £375,000-a-week wages to prolong his stay at Old Trafford.
United opted against exercising an option in De Gea’s existing contract that would have committed the club to those wages for another season and are instead in discussions with the goalkeeper about a fresh deal on less money.
The club’s longest-serving current player after Phil Jones, De Gea joined United from Atletico Madrid for £18.3 million in 2011 when Sir Alex Ferguson was manager.
“I hope so,” De Gea said, when asked if he was confident he would finish his career at United. “I was saying this is my club, I’ve been here many, many years and it’s a huge honour to be here and I’m so happy here.
“Yeah, I’m very relaxed [about the contract], just focussed on training, performing as best as I can. But, for sure, it’s going to end in a good way.”
Doubts had been cast about De Gea’s long-term future under Erik ten Hag amid concerns about whether his distribution would be good enough given the way the United manager wants to play out from the back.
Those concerns grew at the start of the season when United lost their opening two matches to Brighton and Brentford, but De Gea’s all-round game has begun to evolve under Ten Hag and the Spaniard maintained his excellent recent form in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth when he made three superb saves.
United have not conceded at Old Trafford in the Premier League since the beginning of September and De Gea has kept nine clean sheets in his past 12 matches amid a significant upturn in the side’s defensive solidity under Ten Hag.
“That’s how it should be to come here – it should be a tough place for the teams,” De Gea said. “Let’s see in the future. We are playing really well, we have to keep the momentum as much as we can and prepare for every game as a final and recover well.
“He’s (Ten Hag) doing well. He puts every player in the same direction and we feel like a proper team. Everyone wants to win, everyone wants to play for this club and that’s massive. He brought a great spirit to the team, we are playing really well and this is the way we have to show and keep the momentum as well. – The Telegraph
Online Reporter