David De Gea reportedly has a clause in his Manchester United contract that sets his price for Real Madrid at €50m, but it is time-limited.
AS says the goalkeeper included the stipulation in his Old Trafford renewal, signed last year after his move to Santiago Bernabeu collapsed late in the transfer window under farcical circumstances.
De Gea was set to return to Spain with Keylor Navas going the other way only for the documentation to be registered too late with FIFA.
Madrid were to pay €30m for De Gea but receive €15m for Navas, with De Gea at that stage in the final year of his contract.
This year, however, De Gea is under a longer deal and will cost significantly more – €50m, but only until June 15.
After that point the clause is invalid but might be too pricey for Florentino Perez, even though De Gea is said to want Madrid and the President is said to feel De Gea is the right goalkeeper for the club.
If Perez decides to look elsewhere then Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois is an option, while Navas remains United’s preferred choice if De Gea does leave, even though the Madrid fans have taken to the Costa Rican in his year as first choice.
Navas to United could see the cost of De Gea reduced in a similar arrangement as to the one that was planned last summer.
Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak, Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer and Barcelona’s Marc-Andre Ter Stegen have all also been considered and dismissed by United, AS add.
De Gea, meanwhile, is said to want Madrid because United aren’t in the Champions League next season – needing an unlikely result in their rearranged game against Bournemouth to get fourth place – and his girlfriend and family are in the capital as well.
There are reports from England that claim De Gea will push to quit Old Trafford if Louis van Gaal is retained, but is more likely to stay if Jose Mourinho is named manager.
