Transfer gossip: Man Utd legend De Gea mulling over retirement; Arsenal want Milan midfielder
Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is thinking about retiring from football, while Arsenal are interested in signing an AC Milan midfielder…
RONALDO PLEA NOT ENOUGH
David de Gea is weighing up his potential retirement from football after failing to find a suitable club to move to this summer, according to reports.
The Spaniard announced his departure from Man Utd as a free agent at the beginning of July following 12 seasons at the Old Trafford club.
The 32-year-old’s contract with Man Utd expired at the end of June, with no new deal agreed despite talks that took place throughout the season.
When De Gea’s contract expired earlier this year, Man Utd said they remained in talks with the Spain goalkeeper. That followed reports that De Gea had signed a contract extension only for the club to withdraw that offer and come back with reduced terms.
Man Utd eventually signed Andre Onana as his replacement from Inter Milan in a deal worth €55m but there are already questions being raised about the Cameroon international’s suitability for Erik ten Hag’s side.
And The Guardian claims that De Gea ‘may retire if he does not receive an offer to be the first-choice goalkeeper at a major club’ after rejecting ‘several approaches, including from Saudi Arabia, with money not a prime motivator’.
The report adds that the Spaniard ‘would like to play for a club capable of competing for major honours’ and is hopeful of ‘an offer from the right club and from a manager who views him as being in his prime’.
90min claims that former Man Utd team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo ‘has been trying to convince De Gea to join him at Al Nassr, but the goalkeeper is not relenting on his current stance’ in which he wants to remain in Europe.
PARTEY REPLACEMENT?
Arsenal are interested in taking Charles De Ketelaere from AC Milan to the Emirates Stadium in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
There has been speculation that Gunners midfielder Thomas Partey wants to leave the club in January if he continues to be utilised at right-back instead of his usual position in midfield.
Before picking up an injury, Partey started Arsenal’s first three Premier League matches in defence with new signing Declan Rice taking his place in midfield.
With Ben White taking back his place at right-back it could be hard for Partey to get back into Mikel Arteta’s side at all with Arsenal eyeing up potential replacements.
Italian website Calciomercato claims that Arsenal and Newcastle United have joined Man Utd in the race to sign former Club Brugge midfielder De Ketelaere from Milan.
The 22-year-old has made a positive start to the season on loan at Atalanta after putting a ‘horrible year’ at the San Siro behind him in which he underperformed.
Atalanta have a €30m option to buy him at the end of the season but they could face competition from a number of clubs with Premier League clubs ‘ready to spend’.
It is understood that Arsenal ‘pay attention’ to the Belgium international after ‘following him for some time’.
AND THE REST…
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard could have joined Tottenham as a teenager before the Norwegian was persuaded to join Real Madrid by Zinedine Zidane…Ex-England midfielder Jesse Lingard is to train with Al-Ettifaq and, having been released by Nottingham Forest in June, could join the Saudi Arabian club on a free transfer…Barcelona believe Atletico Madrid will want 80m euros (£69.6m) to turn Joao Felix’s loan at the Nou Camp club into a permanent switch, while Manchester City will want 25m euros (£21.7m) to do the same for defender and compatriot Joao Cancelo…Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp rejected an approach to become Germany’s new manager before they turned to Julian Nagelsmann to lead them at Euro 2024.