“Operation de Gea” is well and truly underway at the Bernabeu

Manchester United's best player looks likely to leave for Real Madrid.

We could essentially have copied and pasted the entirety of the article about Ronaldo's 2009 Madrid transfer and changed the names and pricetags but we wouldn't be that lazy, would we? Cris David de Gea could be about to become the latest galáctico as Real Madrid have already begun sounding out a deal for the Manchester United goalkeeper according to reports in AS. "Operation de Gea" as it's called in the Bernabeu offices has been kicked into overdrive as the Champions League holders look to bring some fresh gloves into their goalkeeping set-up with Iker Casillas and Keylor Navas failing to maintain the standards expected of a Real Madrid stopper. It's understood that de Gea will move to Real Madrid if Manchester United accept a fee more "reasonable" than the €68 million pricetag that's currently slapped on him. A couple of other significant factors at play in the potential transfer include whether or not Madrid can guarantee the 24-year-old a starting place with Casillas still their number 1 and whether Manchester United can finish in the top four this season. Depending on the outcome of both of these scenarios, David de Gea's return to Madrid could be a very Real conclusion to an increasingly drawn out transfer tale. The Spaniard's transfer could, though, drag on even longer because, even if a new contract is agreed between United and de Gea, the player will demand a buyout clause of €30 million which will all but be guaranteed as a price that Madrid can meet in another year or so.