Man Utd quoted €75 million for De Gea replacement

Stuart Telford

• 12 Feb 2023 09:00 GMT
• 3 min read

David de Gea has been told to drop his Manchester United wages down if he wants to stay, and the club will need to spend big for their No.1 target as his potential replacement.

De Gea has been a loyal club servant for more than a decade, sometimes captaining the Red Devils on the way to 178 clean sheets from 518 games - which have included some spectacular saves.

But his ball-playing ability, or relative lack thereof, remains a worry at Old Trafford. The club would like him to stay on beyond the end of the season, but he would need to drop his wages down from £375,000 to £200,000 per week.

READ: De Gea willing to take pay cut to stay at Man Utd

United's primary transfer target in the position is Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who has also emerged as Portugal's No.1 over the last year. But he signed a new five-year contract in November, one that includes a €75 million release clause.

'Porto won't accept anything less'

According to Lisbon newspaper A Bola, Porto plan to hold out for that fee.

"Erik ten Hag's side will need to trigger Costa's €75m release clause," they report. "Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa won't accept anything less for him."

READ: Why Diogo Costa must be the man to replace De Gea at Man Utd

Costa has impressed for Porto once again this season, keeping 13 clean sheets across his 25 games in all competitions, including three in the Champions League.

That aforementioned fee would make Costa the second-most expensive goalkeeper of all time, meanwhile, behind De Gea's fellow Spaniard Kepa Arrizabalaga, who swapped Athletic Bilbao for Chelsea for €80m in 2018.

De Gea's own €21.3m transfer to United from Atletico Madrid in 2011 was a British record for a goalkeeper at the time, but has since been overtaken multiple times, by Alisson, Ederson, Aaron Ramsdale and, another reported Man Utd target, Jordan Pickford.