Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea came close to joining Real Madrid in 2015, but the transfer collapsed at the 11th hour after Ed Woodward poured coffee all over the fax machine, or something like that.
Weeks after his failed move to Real, De Gea signed a four-year deal with the Red Devils. He’s been continually linked with a move to Madrid, but there was no concrete interest from the Champions League winners because Zinedine Zidane wanted to continue with Keylor Navas.
Now that Zidane has stepped down as manager, Spanish newspaper AS claims the club will look to bring in a new goalkeeper this summer. The report claims signing United star De Gea “seems impossible”, something similar to signing Kepa from Athletic Bilbao since his contract extension.
The situation has left Madrid with two quality options, say AS – Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Atletico Madrid star Jan Oblak. These two players are now “waiting for the call” from the 13-time European champions.
The Belgium international’s current deal at Stamford Bridge runs down in 2019 and there’s been no recent signs he’s overly eager to renew.
Courtois spent three seasons on loan at Atletico from 2011 to 2014 and is keen on returning to Madrid “due to family issues”. If Chelsea fail to capitalise on his sale this summer, he could leave the Blues as a free agent a year from now.
AS also claims Oblak is another option for Real. The Atletico stopper has a €100m release clause in his contract and the Slovenian is said to be open to the idea of leaving the Rojiblancos and moving to Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid have no issues in giving a better salary to Oblak, but his release clause could be an issue for them. On the other hand, AS believe they can sign Courtois for €30-40m, given his contract status.
