Juventus to open talks over audacious Manchester United transfer raid tonight

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Juventus chiefs are planning to meet with the agent of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea to discuss a potential transfer to Turin as the two clubs meet in the Champions League tonight.

The Spain international’s United future is in major doubt at the moment after a string of recent reports suggested he was reluctant to sign a new contract at Old Trafford.

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De Gea’s current deal expires at the end of this season, but the club have the option to automatically renew it for an additional year, though they would of course ideally like to get a more long-term show of commitment from one of their most important players.

It has been claimed by the Telegraph, however, that the 27-year-old is currently unsure about signing a new contract for a variety of reasons.

The Sun have since claimed United plan to step up talks with his agent Jorge Mendes, though CaughtOffside now understands he’s set to be in conversation with Juventus about a transfer today.

Juventus monitoring David de Gea transfer situation

CaughtOffside understands Juve have been monitoring De Gea’s situation for some time, with the Italian giants in need of a long-term replacement for the legendary Gianluigi Buffon after his departure in the summer.

Wojciech Szczesny currently seems to be Massimiliano Allegri’s first choice in goal, though he is surely not quite good enough to be considered an ideal option as number one for such a big club.

David de Gea a transfer target for Juventus as Manchester United contract talks stall

While many would struggle to follow in the footsteps of a player like Buffon, De Gea has shown himself to be one of the very best shot-stoppers on the planet for a number of years now and would be a considerable upgrade on Szczesny.

It remains to be seen if United will consider doing business at this stage, but they won’t be able to hold on for too much longer if their ‘keeper refuses to put pen to paper on a new deal, as they’d risk losing him on a free transfer or for a vastly reduced fee the closer he gets to the end of his contract.

David de Gea Real Madrid transfer saga dead?

De Gea notably saw a move to Real Madrid fall through in 2015, as reported by BBC Sport at the time, and has been linked with them since then on more than one or two occasions.

However, with Los Blancos moving to sign Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea in the summer, that ship has probably sailed for De Gea, who would surely see Juventus as a decent alternative given their total dominance of Serie A in recent times and some near-misses in the Champions League.

The Turin outfit showed their ambition with the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo this summer and a move for De Gea would be another big statement.

David de Gea would be a huge loss for Manchester United

The 27-year-old perhaps looks unlikely to get to that kind of level with United right now as they struggle again in the Premier League this term and look some way off challenging for other major honours that a player of his calibre will no doubt want under his belt.

Don Balon have already linked United with an interest in Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen as a replacement if they lose their star shot-stopper.

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More Stories David de Gea Gianluigi Buffon Jorge Mendes Jose Mourinho Keylor Navas Marc-Andre ter Stegen Thibaut Courtois Wojciech Szczesny