Real Madrid want de Gea to replace the departed Iker Casillas
Manchester United will demand £35 million from Real Madrid for David de Gea, according to reports.
The Daily Mail claim that Real will make an official bid of £25 million this week, which will be rejected by the Red Devils.
The Spain international goalkeeper was left out of United’s entire squad for their season opener against Tottenham, with Louis van Gaal citing the 24 year old’s ‘lack of focus’ as the primary reason for the decision.
De Gea has one year left on his contract at Old Trafford
Van Gaal challenged the club’s hierarchy to hold out for as higher price as they could for De Gea, having paid Madrid £59.7 million for Angel di Maria last summer, who has subsequently moved on to PSG.
He said: “We have to pay a lot of money for all the players we want, and we want the same level when we have to sell.”
Despite forcing de Gea to sit in the stands yesterday, van Gaal is hopeful of keeping the Spaniard for one more year.
“We want to keep him of course but I’m not the most important part, that’s the player and the club who want to buy him,” he added.
“He’s been our best player for two years or three years so we cannot let him go so easily.”
