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Manchester United will very soon announce their first deal of the summer but they have a lot of problems to solve, especially with regards to the goalkeeping situation.
Mason Mount’s capture will help solve the midfield conundrum but Erik ten Hag will not be pleased with the fact that there is no solution yet for the goalkeeping mess.
David de Gea wants to leave after a new offer was presented to him at the last minute which drastically reduced his wages after the manager was unimpressed with his exploits last season.
United’s GK issues keep rising
The deal for Andre Onana is no closer to completion thanks to Inter Milan’s exorbitant asking price and United’s budgetary restrictions.
This has caused a lot of consternation among the United camp with the club scrambling to find a solution. They have delayed academy graduate Dean Henderson‘s permanent move to Nottingham Forest.
Tom Heaton’s proposed move to Luton Town has been blocked as the club eye up cheaper alternatives like Justin Bijlow, Yann Sommer and Kevin Trapp.
One player who will not be arriving at Old Trafford is Bart Verbruggen. Brighton have signed the Netherlands Under-21 international from Anderlecht for £16.3million.
United were repeatedly linked with him during the course of last season but the 20-year decided to move to The Amex as he felt the style of play suited him.
Verbruggen chooses Seagulls
The Seagulls under Roberto de Zerbi love playing out from the back and Verbruggen excels in that aspect of his game and is also highly-regarded as a shot-stopper.
As per Fbref, the Dutch goalie excels in cross claiming, shot-stopping and also is very adept with his feet with him being in the top eight percentile for touches, an upgrade compared to De Gea.
The Dutch keeper made 17 appearances in the Belgian league and conceded only 21 times while keeping eight clean sheets and in the process was named the Belgian club’s player of the season for 2022-23.
It is a big blow for Ten Hag and a sign of Brighton’s progress and now United have no choice but to focus on other goalkeepers.
