Manchester United target Spanish starlet

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has been linked with moves for plenty of different keepers over the last couple of weeks.  French international Hugo Lloris has been linked of recently, as have keepers from Germany and Italy but the one that caught my eye is Atletico Madrid’s David de Gea.
De Gea is just 19-years-old but highly regarded in Spain and has also been linked with a switch to Premier League side Wigan Athletic.  It seems strange for such a promising youngster to be linked with a switch away from a club like Atletico Madrid but the La Liga side actually have two of Spain’s most promising young keepers – De Gea and Sergio Asenjo. Coach Quique Flores seems to prefer Asenjo although De Gea did get the nod against Getafe in Atletico’s last game and impressed despite the Madrid side suffering a 1-0 defeat.

You would have thought if Manchester United and Wigan Athletic went for the same player there would be only one winner.   Atletico are still keen to keep hold of the youngster as well so there could even be a three-way battle for his signature if everyone steps up their interest.  He may be an Ateltico Madrid player but he is yet to agree personal terms at the Vicente Calderon and according to his agent as long as someone is willing to pay 12million euros (approx £10million/$17million).

De Gea’s agent, Hector Rincon, confirmed there had been some interest in his client, this is what he had to say:  “Some Premier League clubs have been asking for De Gea, like United and especially Wigan who made an offer Atletico rejected.

“(Wigan boss) Roberto Martinez believes that De Gea is ready for the Premier League but Atletico insist he wants to stay at the Calderon. United are also interested. I spoke to Alex Ferguson and their interest was confirmed by an intermediary.”

Sometimes agents talk purely to ensure the player they represent gets what they want.  For example, De Gea’s agent may be wrangling for higher wages from the Spanish side. However, considering the rumors surrounding Old Trafford and their search for a keeper it seems as if they are after another man to compete for the number one spot between the posts and it could indeed be De Gea they’re after.

Edwin van der Sar is 39-years-old and can’t continue at the top level forever, even if he is in fine form at the moment, while Ferguson seems to be unsure about understudies Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak.  Both have quality but perhaps haven’t performed as well as a truly top class keeper should whenever they have been handed a chance.  If United do make a move they may now wait until the summer as there isn’t much time left in the current transfer window.

Written by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer who blogs about goalkeeping news, Irish racing and Cheltenham betting tips 2010.