Man Utd put brutal clause in new De Gea contract

Stuart Telford

• 7 Mar 2023 11:07 GMT
• 3 min read

David de Gea has been offered a 50 per cent pay cut in order to stay at Manchester United beyond next summer, but even then there is a catch.

De Gea has been a loyal club servant since completing his €25 million move from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011, relatively late on in the Sir Alex Ferguson era at Old Trafford.

He recently surpassed Peter Schmeichel for the club record for clean sheets (181), although he took more games to hit the target than the Dane, and has looked rejuvenated under Erik ten Hag this season - despite Sunday's 7-0 thrashing at Liverpool.

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

But De Gea is out of contract at the end of the season. There is a club option to extend his stay by a year but they are not willing to do so on his squad-high £375,000 per week wages.

De Gea is understood to be ready to accept United's new offer of £200,000 a week for two years, but it is not a given that he will receive even that.

Appearance clause

"De Gea would have to start about half of the 60 or so games the Red Devils play at home and abroad next season to hit the maximum salary," report the Sun. "They want to avoid him becoming a highly-paid reserve."

READ: Revealed: Man Utd scout shock De Gea successor

De Gea has kept 10 cleans sheets from his 25 Premier League games this season, but the suspicion remains that Ten Hag would ideally have a ball-playing goalkeeper as his first-choice.

The Dutchman won the majority of his trophies with Ajax with Andre Onana, no of Inter Milan, between the posts, and his ability to race of his line to mop up danger as well as getting involved in build-up play was part of his appeal.

United have been linked with Portugal No.1 Diogo Costa among a string of goalkeepers, with the perception that De Gea's position as first-choice limited, perhaps only to this season.