Bayern Munich are interested in Manchester United’s David de Gea as a potential replacement for the injured Manuel Neuer.
The German icon suffered a broken leg in December, leaving the Bavarian giants in need of a new goalkeeper to see out the season.
Given the extent of the injury, there are also concerns as to the condition in which Neuer will return to action.
This has led to Bayern casting their net wide in order to secure a quality replacement, and De Gea is among their options, according to rumours.
Yassine Bouno is another name floated, but their primary target, says Fabrizio Romano, is Yann Sommer – himself a United target.
Sommer was considered in summer as United sought to bring in genuine competition for De Gea’s number one spot, but ended up signing Martin Dubravka on loan instead.
The Slovakian has since been recalled by Newcastle United, with the Red Devils bringing in Jack Butland from Crystal Palace to provide cover until the end of the season.
With De Gea’s contract expiring in June, the goalkeeper position looks relatively chaotic at Old Trafford, and with the club unlikely to renew the Spaniard’s colossal £375,000-a-week deal at anywhere near its current value, alternatives have been sought.
Yann Sommer was one such player who, with his own contract expiring in six months’ time, could have served as a replacement between the sticks.
But the Swiss shot stopper appears likely to join Bayern Munich in January – so long as the Bundesliga leaders can negotiate a deal with Borussia Monchengladbach, who value their star man at around €10m.
With De Gea’s contract situation and recent form attracting attention from Europe’s elite, it is becoming increasingly likely that he may choose to leave United rather than accept a reduced salary.
Should that happen and should bargain options like Sommer be snapped up by other clubs, the Red Devils could end up being forced to spend a significant portion of their transfer budget on a new goalkeeper.
With investment desperately needed up front and cover required in midfield and defence, that would not be an ideal situation for Erik ten Hag’s rebuild.
Of course, a likely scenario is that De Gea does plan to stay at Old Trafford but is simply delaying taking a pay cut.
The goalkeeper is the highest paid goalkeeper in world football, as well as the highest paid Spanish player of all time, and simply doing nothing until June will allow him to remain so for the time being.
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