David de Gea posts cryptic tweet as Man Utd silence deafening after return reports

‘Manchester United plan an embarrassing U-turn by pleading with dumped keeper David de Gea to return on a short-term deal’ was the line in The Sun on Thursday morning.

It’s claimed the club is worried by Andre Onana’s decision to return to the Cameroon fold, meaning he will likely be competing at the Africa Cup of Nations in the new year.

Afcon runs from January 13 to February 11, meaning the £45m summer signing could miss up to eight United matches, leaving backups Altay Bandir and Tom Heaton as possible options for Erik ten Hag.

De Gea left United after 12 years at the end of his contract in the summer, with United slammed over the way in which they dealt with the Spaniard.

He was initally handed a new deal in which his salary was nearly cut in half, but that was taken off the table before he could sign it.

It’s thought a number of his United teammates weren’t happy with the way in which De Gea was shown the door, and Onana’s poor form since taking over the No.1 spot has led some to question whether they would be better off with the 32-year-old in any case.

The report – which United are strangely yet to dismiss – would see De Gea, who’s still without a new club, handed a short-term deal.

And De Gea has now posted a thinking emoji on Twitter (X) in response to the rumours of his return.

Former United striker Andy Cole described the way in which the Red Devils let De Gea go as “tasteless”.

He said: “Regarding David de Gea, every player makes mistakes and he was absolutely unbelievable for Manchester United. The way that the club let him go in the summer was rather tasteless and I believe that he should have been shown a lot more respect than he was, but that’s football now.

“You don’t get many pats on the back and when you move on, everybody seems to talk about your mistakes rather than all the great things you did for the club.”

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