Man Utd castaway David de Gea in talks with new Spanish club – but transfer incredibly moved to back burner
Man Utd goalkeeper David de Gea
Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is in preliminary discussions with Spanish second tier side Eldense, according to reports – though not for the reason you might think.
De Gea spent 12 years with Man Utd after originally being signed by legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Overall, the Spaniard made 545 appearances for Man Utd, keeping 190 clean sheets.
During De Gea’s spell at Old Trafford, he helped the Red Devils to win one Premier League title, one Europa League, one FA Cup and two League Cups.
De Gea became a free agent at the start of the summer after manager Erik ten Hag opted against extending his contract. Ten Hag did not feel the 33-year-old was good enough with the ball at his feet, even though he is known to be a great shot-stopper.
As such, Man Utd let De Gea go and brought in Andre Onana from Inter as his replacement. Onana has impressed Ten Hag with his passing range and footballing intelligence, which are both exceptional for a keeper, though the Cameroonian has also been guilty of some bad mistakes.
Despite establishing himself as one of the best keepers in the Premier League in recent years, De Gea has struggled to find a new club. He was recently in talks with Real Betis over a return to La Liga, though their manager, Manuel Pellegrini, has instead decided to put his faith in Fran Vieites.
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According to Spanish source Onda Cero (via the Daily Mirror), De Gea has now been spotted at Eldense’s ground. But rather than negotiating a potential contract to become their new keeper, De Gea is focused on becoming a potential owner of the Segunda Division outfit.
Eldense will soon require someone new to lead their club after president Pascual Perez signalled his intention to leave in the near future. Perez has done brilliantly while in charge of Eldense, helping them to three consecutive promotions since 2020.
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These are clearly big shoes to fill, but Perez has insisted he will pick the right person for the job next.”Perez assures that, before leaving the presidency, he will do everything possible so that the replacement of the oldest club in the province of Alicante is in good hands for the proper functioning of the entity and the continuity of the ambitious project that he started three years ago,” a club statement read.
It makes sense that De Gea is looking towards what his next project will be after he retires from playing. Due to the fact he does not currently have a club, he has more time than usual to engineer a potential takeover.
Although, it is still surprising that the 45-cap international is not completely prioritising finding a new club. After all, it does not normally take this long for a player of his calibre to join a team after becoming a free agent.
