De Gea’s career crossroads a danger to Man Utd’s revival

LONDON: Manchester United’s solitary defeat 16 games in to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s caretaker reign in charge against Paris Saint-Germain exposed the gulf the English giants still have to bridge to become a European powerhouse once more.But that the Red Devils travel to Paris on Wednesday trailing only 2-0 from the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie is thanks to David de Gea.The Spanish number one made two brilliant stops from Kylian Mbappe and Juan Bernat three weeks ago as PSG threatened to run riot to again underline his calibre as one of the best goalkeepers in the competition.With Paul Pogba suspended for the return to his native city, De Gea is the one United player who could walk into a PSG side that has divided goalkeeping duties between 41-year-old Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon and Alphonse Areola this season.Worryingly for United that prospect is all too real with De Gea so far holding out in contract negotiations to prolong his current deal beyond the summer of 2020.According to reports, De Gea is seeking at least parity with Alexis Sanchez as the club’s highest earner.The Chilean joined United on a contract worth up to £500,000 ($660,000) a week including bonuses last January, but has not had anywhere near the desired impact, scoring just five goals in 41 appearances.By contrast, De Gea has won United’s player of the year for four of the past five seasons and believes his consistency should be rewarded.But for a matter of minutes on the final day of August in 2015, De Gea’s career could have been very different. A similar contract standoff between the player and club seemed to pave the way for a move to Real only for the fax confirming the transfer to miss the deadline.PSG and Italian champions Juventus are reportedly interested and could offer De Gea the guarantee of UCL football.

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