Marca have one thing on their mind on Friday, and that’s Manchester United’s goalkeeper. Claiming Real Madrid have launched ‘Operation De Gea’, Marca explain the Spanish club are determined to get a transfer agreed early, so they can avoid the mess of last time.
There are several steps Madrid need to take to do that, the first of which has been agreeing personal terms. De Gea would apparently sign for 5 or 6 seasons and take a cut on his €12m a year salary.
Next up is informing Manchester United, and Marca believe this happened ‘about three weeks ago’. De Gea is said to have informed his current club he wants out and then ‘coincidence or not’ was left out of the match against Sunderland.
Whilst that all may be believable, it’s the next bit which would raise the most eyebrows. So convinced, Marca say, is Jose Mourinho that De Gea is leaving, he’s already found his replacement: Joe Hart.
Hart has done better at Torino than many would have you believe. Far from the Turin club being eager to see him go, their president again spoke on Wednesday about a faint hope they can keep the player, depending on what Manchester City decide.
That said, Joe Hart isn’t one of the best goalkeepers in the world and it would take some believing that Mourinho had picked him out of all the options. What could be an attraction for the Manchester United is having a full of confidence Hart keeping shots out at Old Trafford as Claudio Bravo flaps at shots and lets Pep Guardiola down.
That type of scenario is one Mourinho would love, but he’d probably love having a better goalkeeper more.
Back to De Gea, Marca price him at €70m-75m. At the higher end that’s a little over £60m, clearly a world record fee for a goalkeeper. Talks with Manchester United haven’t started yet.
Conveniently for Real Madrid, Marca say Mourinho is keen on two players who Zinedine Zidane could do without: Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez.
Marca price them both as similar to De Gea, which is also convenient, however Madrid would insist on the transfers being completely separate.
De Gea’s desire to join Real Madrid is believable, as is their desire to sign him. It’s conceivable the goalkeeper has asked to leave, and the price Marca have claimed also sounds about right. But after that, Marca’s Friday story seems a little shaky.
