Barcelona are weighing up whether to offer a contract to free agent goalkeeper David de Gea, according to a report.
De Gea remains without a club having left Manchester United last summer when his contract expired. He had initially agreed terms on a fresh deal at Old Trafford until the club rescinded this offer and tried to offer him a new contract on a lower wage, with the Spaniard ultimately deciding to leave after 12 years of service.
The 33-year-old remains without a club – his last competitive appearance came in United’s 2-1 loss to rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final last June in which he received criticism for both goals conceded. But Catalan outlet Mundo Deportivo report he could soon make a return to football with Barcelona.
La Blaugrana remain financially hamstrung – they spent only €3.4m in transfer fees last summer, while their winter outlay of €40m was spent entirely on Brazilian forward Vitor Roque – and they view the free signing of De Gea as a cost-effective solution to strengthening in the goalkeeper department.
Current starting goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League in recent weeks, while backup Inaki Pena has impressed during his outings this season and could be subject to transfer interest himself.
At this stage, it is more likely that De Gea would serve as understudy to Ter Stegen with Barcelona reluctant to sell the Germany international.
De Gea was in talks over a move to Barcelona’s rivals Real Madrid last summer after Thibaut Courtois suffered an ACL injury, but they chose to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan from Chelsea instead.
Bayern Munich were similarly in the market for a backup goalkeeper and considered De Gea before turning to Israel international Daniel Peretz.
Nottingham Forest and Saudi Pro League side Al Shabab were both interested in signing De Gea during the January transfer window, but such moves failed to materialised.
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