Manchester United have initiated contact with the representatives of Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak as they fear David de Gea could leave the club.
The Red Devils have long been trying to tie De Gea down to a new contract at Old Trafford, with his current deal due to expire at the end of next season.
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And while there is still some hope of persuading the Spain international to put pen to paper, CaughtOffside understands the delay over this decision has caused concern inside the club and forced them to begin work on bringing in a replacement.
It remains to be seen if Oblak would welcome the potential transfer to Man Utd, but the club are understood to be confident they could lure in a big name to replace De Gea.
It was recently claimed by the Mirror that no progress had been made recently on getting De Gea to put pen to paper, and Oblak has emerged as United’s ideal replacement.
The Slovenia international has been a world class performer for Atletico down the years and has been linked with Europe’s elite clubs in the past.
CaughtOffside understands other names will also be considered by MUFC, such as Real Madrid’s Keylor Navas and Barcelona’s Jasper Cillessen.
Oblak would be expensive at £87million, which is his release clause with Atletico and the minimum they’d request from his sale.
This would mean United smashing the previous world record fee for a goalkeeper, set by Chelsea when they signed Kepa Arrizabalaga last summer.
For a ‘keeper of Oblak’s quality, it would surely be worth it, though it would also undoubtedly be a big blow to lose De Gea, who has been linked with PSG and Juventus.