De Gea 'in talks' with Saudi Pro League side

Stuart Telford

• 28 Jan 2024 09:26 GMT
• 3 min read

Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is set to return to football with Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabab, according to a report.

De Gea has been without a club since July, when talks on a new contract broke down.

The Spaniard had originally agreed to reduced his £375,000-a-week salary, but United pulled the plug anyway, and have since bolstered their goalkeeping department with Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir.

He had been linked with a move to Al-Nassr, and therefore a reunion with former Old Trafford teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Alex Telles, but now Al-Shabab have pulled to the front of the queue.

"Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is in talks to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabab," report Simon Jones and Adrian Bishop for The Daily Mail.

De Gea the first of many?

"Bringing in De Gea would mark just the latest transfer coup for Al-Shabab who are signing Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla and have been discussing a move for Newcastle's Miguel Almiron.

"They are also considering Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech who is on loan at Galatasaray."

De Gea won the Premier League Golden Glove in his final season at Man Utd with 17 clean sheets, and is still valued at €10.4 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm.

Yannick Carrasco is the biggest name currently on Al-Shabab's books, the versatile Belgium wide man having joined from Atletico Madrid at the start of the season.

The Saudi Pro League made some waves with the influx of European talent that followed Ronaldo's arrival, with some suggesting that even the Premier League could come under threat.

But that seems to be allayed for now, with Jordan Henderson recently breaking his Al-Ettifaq contract to sign for Ajax, while Aymeric Laporte, another Ronaldo teammate, recently admitted that 'many are discontented' in the Middle-Eastern Kingdom.