Why Manchester United Should Sell David De Gea This Summer

On Tuesday night, Manchester United face Club Brugge at Old Trafford in their most important Champions League tie since they reached the final against Barcelona at Wembley four years ago.

Overcome the Belgian side over two legs and United will be ushered back among the elite of European football; lose and they will be forced to watch from the sidelines for a second season.

And yet David De Gea, the man most responsible for United being on the brink of a return to the Champions League group stage and the winner of the club's Player of the Year award for the last two seasons, will be sitting helpless in the stands dressed in a club suit. 

Amid constant speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid, the United manager Louis van Gaal has decided he is not focused enough to stand between the posts. 

Van Gaal has also revealed De Gea told his coaching staff he didn’t want to be selected for the opening game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur.

“Frans Hoek...he has a meeting with David De Gea and he asked him, ‘Do you want to play?’” Van Gaal said he replied, “No," as reported in the Guardian.

“Then I have to take the decision. It is a process. We had been observing him in preparation, he was not so good, he was not the same David De Gea as before.”

If De Gea is not the same player as last season, and does not even wish to play for the club, United have no choice but to now sell him.

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

The United fans have been reluctant to turn against such an important player, but there's little difference between De Gea and the vilified Raheem Sterling.

When it became clear De Gea was refusing to sign a new contract at United because he wanted to return to Madrid, his “professional attitude” was rather perversely praised by his manager, relayed by the Express. 

While De Gea obviously wanted to move, United fans consoled themselves with the notion that at least he wasn’t behaving in the same manner as Sterling, who at the same time was very publicly and acrimoniously trying to force his way out of Anfield.

Many did not buy into this misguided praise for De Gea.

He is a brilliant goalkeeper, but he also appears to be a cold and detached individual, who when he was being showered with praise and awards by team-mates and fans alike at the end of last season, chose to fuel the speculation of his imminent departure by remaining silent.

His silence was just as damaging as Sterling’s agitating interviews, and the message was just the same: He wanted out.

Now, according to his manager, he is both unable and unwilling to do the job he is paid to do and represent Manchester United.

Angel Di Maria was sold because he didn’t want to remain at the club, and De Gea should be sold for the same reason.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Manchester United deserve a goalkeeper who cherishes playing for the club, and not one who quite clearly does not.

And why delay the inevitable?

It might hurt United’s pride, but it is perfectly understandable a Spaniard from Madrid wants to return to his native country to be close to his friends and family and play for his hometown team.

De Gea will either leave United before the end of this transfer window or at the end of the season.

As I have previously written, if De Gea fulfilled his potential, just like Cesc Fabregas before him, he was always going to return to Spain at some stage of his career.

It is United’s fault for failing to manage the situation and properly prepare for this moment.

The truth is United have been prepared to sell De Gea all summer.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

It was initially an astute approach from the United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to try to leverage a Madrid player out of the Bernabeu in exchange for De Gea.

It appeared as though this might be successful with Sergio Ramos, but with the defender now having signed a new contract with Madrid, reported by BBC Sport, United have to accept this approach has failed. 

No Madrid player will be arriving at Old Trafford, and United will instead be left with a discontent De Gea counting down the days until he can walk out of the club for nothing on July 1, 2016.

United have lost this power battle, but they always had a weak hand, saddled with a player who wanted to leave with less than a year remaining on his contract.

De Gea already represents the past, and United need to think seriously about the future while this transfer window remains open.

It is surely better to have a motivated goalkeeper committed to the club, who could be there for the next decade, rather than De Gea, who will leave for Madrid next summer at the latest and whose mind is already there.

And after Van Gaal’s revelation that De Gea didn’t want to play for the club, which the 'keeper disputes, according to the Daily Mail, it is unrealistic to expect their relationship will simply go back to normal when the window closes.

It might hurt United’s pride to sell De Gea now, but it could hurt their entire season more if they kept him.

United need to find resolution before September 1, remove the unsettling presence of the Spaniard and sign his replacement.