The chances of David de Gea ever appearing in a Manchester United shirt again look slimmer by the day. On Sunday the Spanish shot-stopper hobbled off the Old Trafford turf in the most inauspicious of circumstances, clutching his hamstring and muttering to a physio. Yet, while the man himself made no great gestures - no Falcao-esque tapping of the badge and wave to the crowd - those inside the Theatre of Dreams certainly reacted as though this was the last time they’d see de Gea between the Old Trafford posts.
In his post-match interview, Louis van Gaal himself confirmed as much, telling the BBC that the young Spaniard faces a choice “between two great clubs,” adding: "He is Spanish and his girlfriend is Spanish and he can go to another great club, so it is difficult for him to decide.”
For a man as bullish as van Gaal to be so placid on such a key member of his squad is telling: to our mind, the Dutchman is resigned to losing de Gea this summer, and understandably so. The Spaniard has just one more season of his contract to run and, if he refuses to extend that deal, United must sell now if they want to recoup the $28 million they paid back in 2011.
So, assuming de Gea is off, to whom will United turn to replace the man who, at times this season, resembled Fort Knox rendered in flesh and blood? Van Gaal has, according to reports, already drawn up a list of replacements. But, with the world’s best keepers already well-entrenched with top-tier clubs, who can United realistically target? Here's who we think Ed Woodward will be looking dump a truckload of cash on this summer from United's myriad of sponsors:
Samir Handanovic (Inter Milan)
Inter Milan’s 30-year-old Slovenian shot-stopper Samir Handanovic has 16 clean sheets in 34 games for an otherwise very ordinary Nerazzurri this season, including a 66% success rate against penalties (four saves from six).
With Inter languishing in mid-table mediocrity yet again, the prospect of Champions League football would likely be enough to tempt the Slovenian to Old Trafford, and United are reported to have watched the player closely in recent months.
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)
A proven Premier League, European and International performer, Spurs' Hugo Lloris is the bookies' favourite to replace David de Gea this summer. While perhaps not the most exciting of acquisitions, the 28-year-old is a solid, low-risk choice. He won't be cheap, however: the captain of France signed a contract extension just last summer, and Daniel Levy doesn't let any player leave White Hart Lane for anything less than double their market value.
Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
If you're looking for a good, young goalkeeper, Atletico Madrid is a good place to start. After all, the Rojiblancos' last two keepers were David de Gea and Thibaut Courtois (on loan, admittedly), and Jan Oblak looks like the next, great, young shot-stopper to spark his career into life at the Vicente Calderon.
Oblak kept a clean sheet against Real Madrid in the home leg of their quarter final Champions League tie, and hadn't conceded a goal at home until last weekend against Barcelona. Atleti only acquired his services last summer for around $17 million, so would require some considerable financial coaxing to release a player Diego Simeone rates very highly: he's averaged a stonking 3.4 saves per goal conceded in La Liga this season.
Craig Gordon (Celtic)
The18 once played cards with Craig Gordon in an Edinburgh bar, and a thoroughly nice chap he was too. More importantly, he's also a bloody good goalkeeper.
While many will crow that Gordon isn't exactly being tested north of the border with Celtic, he's already proven his Premier League pedigree with Sunderland (he was the most expensive British goalkeeper in history when they paid north of $15 million for him in 2009) and averaged 2.6 saves per goal conceded in the Europa League this season. At 32 years of age, he's still plenty young enough for a goalkeeper, and appears to have put his ACL troubles behind him.
Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen)
Still only 23, Bernd Leno has already made over 100 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen, including more than 20 in the Champions League. The German averages nearly two saves per goal conceded, and like another former United goalkeeper - Peter Schmeichel - stands all 6ft 3in of his height in one-on-one situations. United are reported to be monitoring his situation at Leverkusen, but so too, intriguingly, are Real Madrid.
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
33 in a few days time (a prepubescent in goalkeeping terms), Petr Cech has found himself relegated to the bench by the brilliance of his younger teammate Thibaut Courtois. There seems little doubt that Cech will depart Chelsea this summer; a string of teams are lined up for his services, and Jose Mourinho will surely not condemn such a talent to another season's purgatory on the bench. Chelsea have a recent history of selling top-level players to United, so why not Cech? He's arguably the only truly world-class goalkeeper that's going to be realistically available this summer, though United will face competition from Arsenal for his signature.
Everybody knows how good Cech is, so rather than watch him make a string of saves, why not enjoy his skills on the drums instead?
