After his magnificent season, and inclusion in team of the year, to say that losing David De Gea isn’t a disaster seems a bit misjudged.

Unfortunately, goalkeepers have no statistic to judge just how many points they save their team because De Gea regularly provided match winning saves or kept Manchester United in games. Playing behind a generally shaky defence, De Gea faced more pressure than most keepers at the top clubs and invariably provided sensational reflex saves.

All the waxing lyrical about De Gea is largely deserved, yet his performances are hardly ahead of contemporaries Thibaut Courtois and Hugo Lloris. Perhaps the most highly praised performance was in the victory over Liverpool, when, if we are frank about it, Raheem Sterling (yes, the new boy wonder) gave a display in exactly how not to finish.

De Gea has made vast improvements since his arrival from Atletico Madrid, but the amount of money currently being quoted for a potential transfer would be exceptional business for a goalkeeper.

As an elite shot stopper, Manchester United understandably are putting up a fight to keep hold of the Spaniard, perhaps more out of pride than pragmatism.

The sale of De Gea does not leave United without a choice for a quality goalkeeper. Unlike the centre-back market, a search for a goalkeeper in the current market is not particularly difficult. The biggest sign of such being Victor Valdes and Petr Cech were second choice for the majority of last season, either of which would hardly be a step down on De Gea.

With Asmir Begovic available for a cut price, the options for De Gea replacements are hardly going to weaken the side. Or, most importantly, people are forgetting about the World Cup winning and highly decorated Victor Valdes as a Manchester United squad member, that makes anyone question if they really do need to sign another stopper.

Fees have been quoted of up to €40million for De Gea and given the investment required in the current United squad that is a sum of money that should not be turned down when so many adequate replacements are around. The money for De Gea could fund a move for Otamendi, Schneiderlin or perhaps even Sergio Ramos.

With Victor Valdes waiting in the wings, there is no reason for United to swiftly sign another young keeper but crucially can reinvest in significantly weaker areas of the squad.

Any stubbornness to allow De Gea to move when he so clearly wants to leave is not thinking clearly. A rejection of any reasonable offer would be a sign of pride rather than logical thought and keeping a player at a club when he is openly trying to leave seldom works. Victor Valdes is one of the most experienced goalkeepers you could wish to have ready to come in, yet United persist in drawing out a transfer saga that is going to hang over the club until the move goes through.

Aiming to bring a Real Madrid player the other way is very admirable, but raising the fee and reinvesting with plenty of time to bed in before the new season would be a far more sensible way to conduct their business.

De Gea may become the best goalkeeper in the world, yet in a squad that is so clearly needing at least three big signings, settling for a lesser shot stopper would be beneficial to the side as a whole.

[ad_pod id='ricco' align='center']