The Daily Record has reported that the club have met De Gea’s demands to have a deal in line with that of Paul Pogba, and it is believed the Spanish stopper will now make over €15 million (£13.3m) per season.
The reported deal for De Gea, who was in the final year of his current contract, is also believed to include an optional fifth year for the club.
It has been a fraught and torturous negotiation process between player and club, one that had seen the 28-year-old enter the final year of his existing Old Trafford contract, raising the prospect that De Gea would exit United without a transfer fee in nine months’ time.
Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are ranked among the player’s suitors.
The failure to announce a new contract for the Spanish goalkeeper after more than two years of negotiation has created unease among the club’s support.
There have been a few twists in the tale of De Gea’s future over those two years. It appeared at one stage he was committed to stay; at another, it seemed he had resolved to leave.
Yet in July, after United made their latest offer, the feeling from both the club and the player’s camp was one of confidence. There was a strong belief that negotiations would be concluded after the pre-season tour of Australia and Asia.
Seven weeks after United returned to Manchester, there is still no official confirmation of a deal being signed. An agreement finally looks likely, although United are yet to make any official announcement confirming the deal.
Voted the Premier League’s best goalkeeper in five of the last seven seasons, De Gea wanted his status as United’s most consistently accomplished footballer to be rewarded with the same financial terms as United granted Alexis Sanchez in January 2018.
The stance of the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward had been that such an increase was impossible.
At his Friday morning press conference ahead of Saturday’s visit of Leicester to Old Trafford, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “I want David to stay here. He knows that. And David’s, for me, the best goalkeeper in the world.”
