Former Man Utd star and current leading pundit Danny Higginbotham says his old club should resolve the future of goalkeeper David De Gea ‘sooner rather than later’.
Speaking exclusively to RetroUnited.com, Higginbotham believes it will be in the best interests of Louis van Gaal to get the matter concluded swiftly.
‘In my opinion in these situations you want it concluded sooner rather than later,’ says Higginbotham. ‘He (De Gea) hasn’t said that he wants to stay which says a lot. If you want to stay at a club the easiest way to stop any talk is to come out and say you’re staying. Like wise you want to get deal done quickly because you want to be able to re-invest the money and all managers want their new signings in for first day of pre-season so they can bond with their new team mates and get the managers ideas on board early.’
There has been talk about Madrid offering low amounts with just a year left on the goalkeeper’s contract but there is also the suggestion that United may try and use the position as leverage to sign one of Madrid’s players and Danny believes this is an avenue Van Gaal ought to pursue.
‘Manchester United are short in a few areas in my opinion and a centre back or centre forward from Real would be ideal,’ he says. ‘When swap deals are done though, sometimes, the incoming player might not necessarily want to come so you have to be careful in this situation. Benzema would be the forward I would look at because of his quality but also the fact that Falcao has gone – there are big question marks over Robin van Persie and Hernandez, and Wilson as of yet is still unproven. So realistically there is only one centre forward in Rooney that you can rely on.’
‘As for the centre backs, Smalling, Jones and Evans are much of a muchness and Rojo had had a in and out season so I would look at Varane. He has a bit of everything. In all honesty though defending is becoming a dying art now and their aren’t that many world class ones out there due to the way football is now going.’
Danny will be covering the Under 21 European Championships for BT Sport. His best-selling autobiography ‘Rise of the Underdog’ is available on Amazon in both hardcover and Kindle – alternatively, there is a signing in Derby next Saturday, details of which can be found on the official Twitter feed for the book here.
If you can’t make the signing, we are still offering signed editions of Danny’s book (there is a limited stock so be quick so you don’t miss out!).
