Juventus are ready to open contract talks with Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea in a bid to sign him as a free agent, as they did with former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey this summer, according to reports. De Gea is yet to sign a new contract with the Old Trafford club, despite reports that there has been a breakthrough this summer.
De Gea saw his contract extended during last season with the one-year clause being activated, meaning that the Spanish goalkeeper will be free to leave the club at the end of the current season, as long as he does not sign a new contract at the Theatre of Dreams. United will have until the end of the festive period to secure him to a new deal.
Come the 1 January 2020, Juventus will be able to open talks with the player with a bid to get him to sign a pre-contract agreement, which would become active on the 1 July 2020 with the player signing for the Italian champions for no fee, although he will probably get a lump sum to sign for the club, possibly a big wage package.
In the summer, Juventus signed Ramsey on a free, sorting that deal out early in 2019, also signing Adrien Rabiot from Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent, a player United had been linked with under the management of Jose Mourinho. Maurizio Sarri’s side could see De Gea as the long-term replacement for goalkeepers Gianluigi Buffon and Wojciech Szczesny.
The Spanish goalkeeper was linked to Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus earlier in the summer but nothing seemed to materialise, then there was a suggestion of a breakthrough between United and De Gea, which led to reports of a new contract being signed. More recently though, it has been reported that the player will make United sweat until January.
If that is the case, United will need to operate on the fact that the player will leave the club. He is clearly waiting to see what potential suitors will offer him to leave the club as a free agent, so the club may need to cut their losses. Of course, if the season runs smoothly for Dean Henderson at Sheffield United, he could be a long-term replacement for De Gea.
