Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea has reportedly
denied that he has agreed to sign for Manchester United - and said
that he could yet pen a new contract with his current
club.
Manchester United revealed earlier this week that they had moved
for De Gea as the replacement for the retiring Edwin van der Sar,
with manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirming that they hoped to
formally announce the transfer early next week.
But now the 20-year-old is said to have released at statement
through his lawyer to Spanish news agency EFE, insisting
that he will make no decision on his future until after the
European Under-21 Championships. Spain play England in the group
stages of the competition, with the final due to take place at the
end of June.
The statement from De Gea, released by lawyer Jose Bouzas
Aragon, read: "I hereby deny information that appeared in various
media today indicating that David de Gea Quintana, football player
of Club Atletico de Madrid, has signed for Manchester United. It is
not true that he has been signed.
"De Gea will not consider the contract extension offer from
Atletico or any other offer until June 30 when he has finished his
commitments with the Under-21 national team.''
Atletico have already denied any deal is in place with the
Premier League club with Enrique Cerezo, the Atletico president,
telling Spanish radio station Cadena Ser: "We don't know
anything. Officially neither Manchester [United] or the player at
this moment have informed us of anything.
"He [De Gea] knows very well that he can negotiate [with other
clubs] but always that they have to pay his buy-out clause."
It was reported that United had agreed to pay £17 million for De
Gea, who was part of the Spain squad which won the 2007 European
Under-17 Championship but has yet to win his first full cap being
behind both Iker Casillas and Pepe Reina.