Man Utd could get De Gea successor on the cheap due to FFP

Stuart Telford

• 22 Jun 2023 18:09 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United have been handed a boost in their pursuit of a replacement for David de Gea, with Diogo Costa's current employers Porto running into financial trouble.

De Gea won the Premier League's Golden Glove last season after keeping 17 clean sheets, but manager Erik ten Hag has serious misgivings about the Spaniard's ability to play out from the back.

De Gea has been offered a new two-year deal which would see his salary drop from £375,000 a week to £200,000, but he is yet to sign it and United have stepped up their search for his replacement in recent weeks.

READ: Man Utd told asking price for number one goalkeeping target

Andre Onana, Inter Milan's goalkeeper who helped them to the Champions League final in June, is understood to be United's top target in the position, the Cameroonian having won the Dutch domestic treble under Ten Hag in 2019.

A cheaper Cost-a

Costa was previously top of United's list before signing a new contract with Porto in November that included a €75m release clause, but he could now be available for significantly cheaper.

"Porto have until 30 June to generate €50 million in player sales or risk severe sanctions from UEFA's Financial Fair Play," report Lisbon's football daily, A Bola, as relayed by Zach Lowy, who followed up in a Tweet with:

"Diogo Costa and Mehdi Taremi could be subject to a departure but I would think that Otavio could be gaining interest from various clubs as well. One of the best players in Portugal and has a release clause of €40m until 15 July."

READ: Why Diogo Costa is the perfect successor to David de Gea

Costa is valued at €34.4m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm and Porto might now have to settle for a fee significantly closer to that value as they rush to balance the books.

Onana remains a topic for United, as does Everton's England No.1 Jordan Pickford, but the recent news coming out of Portugal will be welcome to the Old Trafford club, nonetheless.