Gabriel Agbonlahor has warned Manchester United not to activate David de Gea’s one-year contract extension at the end of this season.
Reported on Football Insider, the former Premier League striker insists De Gea is no longer worth the £300,000 per week he would still be earning if the extension is agreed.
“I don’t think he deserves that contract. The salary they are talking about, £300,000 a week, is not worth it,” the former Aston Villa man said.
Agbonlahor went on to say that it would be better for United to replace the ‘error-prone’ De Gea with a younger goalkeeper.
“I would go ahead, to be honest. He will have some good games but he will make mistakes. I would go ahead and look for a younger option instead.”
Doubts have been raised about De Gea’s ability to keep goal in an Erik ten Hag team.
Ten Hag’s preferred style is to build from behind and requires his goalkeeper to be as good with his feet as he is with his hands. De Gea’s passing isn’t at the top of his list of attributes, as he has shown so far this season.
De Gea is also one of the top earners at the club, which lends credence to severing ties with the Spaniard, in line with reducing the salary structure to a manageable level.
If De Gea were to leave, he would leave Old Trafford as one of the greatest goalkeepers to ever wear the shirt.
Four-time Player of the Year winner Sir Matt Busby, De Gea’s importance to the team has been enormous in what has been a difficult decade for the club. De Gea won the award three years in a row between 2014-2016 where he was considered the best goalkeeper in the world.
If De Gea leaves, the replacement will have big gloves to fill. Dean Henderson is on the books, but he may have burned his bridges after comments made about him being loaned out to Nottingham Forest.
Other names circulating include Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak, Wolves’ Jose Sa and England number one Jordan Pickford. Whoever replaces De Gea will feel the pressure of facing one of the most scrutinized positions in world football.
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