Real Madrid Transfer News: David De Gea Bid to Be Accepted by Manchester United

Manchester United will accept a bid of £30 million from Real Madrid for unsettled goalkeeper David De Gea before the transfer window closes next week.

That’s according to David McDonnell of the Daily Mirror, who claimed those close to the player are “increasingly confident” a deal will be done before the cutoff. It’s noted that although United have been unmoved in their £35 million valuation, a deal could be struck for a lesser sum in the latter stages of the window.

As noted by Sam Pilger of FourFourTwo, if United were to cash in on the player at this late stage, it would reflect badly on their summer as a whole:

It’s a transfer saga that has dragged on from the first day of the window right up until this point and it seems as though we are no closer to a solution.

Former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel is frustrated that the saga has been allowed to drag on for quite so long, per audioboom.com:

De Gea has not featured in any of United’s games so far this season and manager Louis van Gaal will not involve him again until his transfer situation is solved in earnest, as noted by McDonnell. It’s also claimed that the tiresome wrangle has “become too much of a distraction and that they may ultimately be better off without him.”

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But the Dutchman has previously been insistent that De Gea will not be sold in this window, per Paul Hirst of the Press Association (h/t the MailOnline). Letting him leave now would almost certainly leave the Red Devils a little short of quality in the goalkeeping department.

Here’s how he fares in comparison to the man currently between the sticks at Old Trafford, Sergio Romero, per WhoScored.com:

A sum of £30 million for a player with one year left on his contract is a substantial amount of money and it’ll be a tantalising proposition for United. But at this late stage of the window, the Red Devils would have little time to draft in replacements and it’s a fee that could see them held to ransom by other clubs in pursuit of targets.

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As such, football writer Diarmuid Gillingham thinks De Gea should stay and play once the transfer window shuts:

It certainly seems like a time for United to flex their muscles. Selling De Gea for circa £30 million earlier in the summer may have been in their best interests, but doing a deal at such a late stage in the window would leave the club shopping in the bargain bucket for possible replacements.

De Gea may leave the club on a free next summer, but you’d hope that while he’s under contract at United, he’ll knuckle down and focus on football. That way he’d keep his chances alive of making Spain’s national team for the 2016 European Championships and ensure United, for another season at least, have a world-class operator between the sticks.