What’s the story?
Real Madrid's hopes of landing David De Gea have dealt a huge blow as Manchester United have rejected a swap deal offered by the Spanish side. Los Blancos submitted an offer of 'Keylor Navas and £30 million cash' to the Red Devils, but Jose Mourinho quickly rebuffed it according to The Express.
The Premier League side have been demanding a world record fee of £60 million for their goalkeeper, knowing that the Spanish side are desperate to sign him in the summer. Madrid have been trying to lower the price by offering players in exchange but have not managed to convince the Manchester side at all.
In case you didn’t know...
This is not the first time that Madrid have offered Navas in the deal to sign De Gea. They made a similar offer in 2015, but the fee was nearly £15 million that time around.
Manchester United, who were managed by Luis van Gaal that time accepted the offer and completed the deal with Madrid. However, the paperwork was not completed on time by both parties, and the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) did not sanction the move.
The heart of the matter
Two years later, Madrid have returned to Old Trafford with an offer that they believe is good enough to secure the signing of De Gea. However, Jose Mourinho has other plans as he wants a goalkeeper younger than Navas to be the #1 at the club next season.
Navas is already 30-years-old, and Mourinho believes that he won't be at the same level after 2-3 years. The manager is eyeing a keeper who is just peaking in his career and has three names in mind according to reports.
Reports suggest that this is one of the several offers Madrid have made for the goalkeeper this month, with Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata and even Isco being offered in swap deals.
Jose Mourinho reportedly wanted Morata and James Rodriguez in exchange for De Gea, but the Madrid side was not willing to sacrifice two players for the goalkeeper. They offered the players to the Red Devils in separate deals, but it was dismissed straight away.
What’s next?
Los Blancos are determined to sign De Gea this summer and are ready to offer any player to the Red Devils to sign him. However, should they fail to strike a deal with Manchester United, they will opt to sign Thibaut Courtois or Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Author’s Take
Manchester United are right to reject this swap-deal offered by Madrid. Navas is 30 already, and though he's still in excellent form, nobody knows how well he'll play in the Premier League. Bravo was a great goalkeeper at Barcelona; we are all aware how he's doing at Manchester City this season.
