de Gea wants to end career at Man Utd

Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea is confident that his contract talks with Manchester United will end with the goalkeeper remaining at Old Trafford for the rest of his career.

The 32-year-old, now in his 12th season with the club, has played a key role in United’s recent upsurge, culminating in a strong performance in Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth.

He is a free agent at the end of this campaign and United have yet to activate their option of a one-year extension to De Gea’s £375,000-a-week deal.

It has been reported that negotiations centre on United trying to talk De Gea into accepting a lower base salary, although the Spaniard hopes to commit the remainder of his career to Old Trafford.

“I hope so,” he said. “This is my club, I’ve been here many, many years and it’s a huge honour to be here and I’m so happy here. I’m very relaxed, just focus on training, perform as best as I can, but for sure it’s going to end in a good way.”

With De Gea in inspired form, Erik ten Hag’s side have not conceded a Premier League goal at Old Trafford since beating Arsenal at the start of September — a run of 480 minutes.

The latest win strengthened their place in the top four although Ten Hag, while welcoming the fact that his side have made their home ground a fortress, was critical after the Bournemouth victory.

 “He was happy with the clean sheet but at the same time he was a bit angry because we conceded too many chances and we were too open at the end of the game,” De Gea said. “That’s how it should be to come here — it should be a tough place for the teams, let’s see in the future.

“We are playing really well, we have to keep the momentum as much as we can and prepare every game as a final and recover well. We have to recover really well because we play a lot of games [this month].

 “I feel comfortable with everyone, everyone is training really well, they are ready to play. They showed again today, it doesn’t matter who is playing, everyone is ready to perform like today and it’s great to have a proper squad.”

Ten Hag, who has led United to nine wins in their past ten league and cup games, has made a significant impact at Old Trafford, although upcoming league games with Manchester City and Arsenal will test that newfound resolve.

“He’s doing well,” De Gea said. “He puts every player in the same direction and we feel like a proper team. Everyone wants to win, everyone wants to play for this club and that’s massive.

“He brought a great spirit to the team, we are playing really well and this is the way we have to show and keep the momentum as well.”

Meanwhile, United are in talks with former England goalkeeper Jack Butland over a short-term move, after Newcastle United recalled their on-loan reserve Martin Dubravka from Old Trafford this week.

Butland, 29, is currently third choice at Crystal Palace, behind Vincent Guaita and Sam Johnstone, and has not started a game all season. At United he would compete with Tom Heaton, 36, to provide cover for De Gea, although Heaton has played only 22 minutes of first-team football — as a substitute in a Champions League draw with Young Boys last season — since joining United in the summer of 2021 from Aston Villa.