Manchester United's David de Gea 'refusing to take £9m-a-year pay cut'

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is reportedly rejecting the Red Devils' attempts to slash his salary by as much as £9m a year with any new deal.

The 32-year-old continues to run down the final few months of his contract at Old Trafford and could depart as a free agent this summer as things stand.

De Gea has been tipped to head back to Spain for a couple of years now, and talk of an exit intensified when he briefly lost his spot in the team to Dean Henderson.

However, the Spain international has since returned to form in between the sticks, and while he has not been immune from criticism, his performances have been a big factor in Man United's treble hunt.

The Red Devils are now hoping to agree a new contract with De Gea, who is their highest earner on a whopping £375,000 a week under his current terms.

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Man United are not willing to continue forking out such an extortionate salary to a player who will turn 33 in November, despite his desire to continue at the Theatre of Dreams.

According to The Sun, the 20-time English champions have proposed cutting De Gea's weekly wage down to £200,000, which would decrease his yearly earnings by £9m.

However, the shot-stopper has no intention of accepting such terms, which would see him fall behind Casemiro and Raphael Varane in the club's wage charts.

De Gea's camp are aware that he will need to accept a lower wage as Man United try to make cuts across the squad, but they do not want him to slip too far down the earnings board.

Nevertheless, all parties remain optimistic of striking a compromise in the coming weeks, which could see Man United make up for his decreased base pay with sizeable bonuses.

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Man United activated 12-month contract extensions for all of Luke Shaw, Fred, Marcus Rashford and Diogo Dalot over the winter, and there is a similar option in De Gea's deal to keep him on the books until 2024.

That clause has not been triggered, though, as doing so would see the Spaniard remain on his current wage, and Man United are instead aiming to agree a fresh three years until the end of the 2025-26 season.

De Gea is now in his 12th season as a Man United player since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2011, and he has kept a record 185 clean sheets in 533 matches for the Red Devils.

The 32-year-old broke Peter Schmeichel's shutout record for the club against Newcastle United in February's EFL Cup final, winning his eighth trophy in Man United colours in the process.

De Gea's 13 Premier League clean sheets in the current campaign is also the joint-most alongside Nick Pope, and he could steer clear of the Newcastle man with a 14th in Sunday's clash with Nottingham Forest.