Discussions Initiated Between David de Gea and Real Madrid

Real Madrid have engaged in talks with former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea following new of Thibaut Courtois' ACL injury, 90min understands.

Courtois suffered the devastating injury in training just days before the 2023/24 La Liga season is due to begin, with Madrid facing Athletic Club with San Mames. Logic dictates that the Belgian is likely to miss most or even all of the campaign while he recovers.

Andriy Lunin will get the nod to deputise for now, but the 24-year-old Ukrainian is the only other goalkeeper in the first-team squad and that is a problem. The next most senior goalkeeper at the club is 21-year-old Lucas Canizares, who has never made a first-team appearance but was on the bench in various competitions a handful of times last season.

De Gea is currently a free agent after leaving Manchester United when his contract there expired at the end of June. The 32-year-old has had interest from the Saudi Pro League, while he has also appeared on Bayern Munich’s radar after Yann Sommer left to replace Andre Onana at Inter.

But Madrid have spied an opportunity that suits their needs. 90min understands that contact has been made with De Gea’s representatives and talks are progressing.

De Gea famously grew up in Madrid and came through the ranks at city rivals Atletico, where he made his first-team debut in 2009 while still a teenager. Just under two years later, he was chosen by Manchester United to be the successor to the retiring Edwin van der Sar.

Still only 20 at the time, the Spaniard initially struggled but was a Premier League champion in 2013 and was arguably the best goalkeeper in the world between 2014 and 2016. It was during that time that he was persistently linked with Real Madrid and a transfer very nearly happened in 2015.

Into the final year of his contract and with speculation at its nauseating peak in August 2015, De Gea sat out the start of the 2015/16 Premier League season. Amid the possibility that he could leave as a free agent the next summer, United agreed a deal with Madrid worth £29m that included Keylor Navas heading in the opposite direction to Old Trafford.

Incredibly, the deal collapsed due to the paperwork not being submitted in time and a fax machine was blamed. Less than two weeks later, De Gea penned a new long-term contract at United.