HAPPY DAVE
Man Utd keeper David De Gea signs new £73m deal after club finally satisfied him about their title ambition following nearly TWO years of talks
DAVID DE GEA finally signed a new £73million contract at Manchester United after nearly two years of talks - because he was convinced by the club's title ambition.
United have not won the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson's final season in charge in 2012/13.
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David De Gea signs new Man Utd contract keeping him at Old Trafford until 2023
And according to , De Gea, 28, needed to know how serious the club were about trophies before he put pen to paper on the new deal.
The contract ties De Gea to United until 2023 while the club can exercise a 12-month extension.
Since Fergie left, United have finished seventh, fourth, fifth, sixth, second and sixth - and were 19 points behind champions Manchester City when they were runners-up in 2018.
But De Gea is confident the club is moving in the right direction to challenge City and Liverpool.
He said: "Now my future is fixed, all I want is to help this team achieve what I believe we can and win trophies again, together.
"I still feel that I have so much more to achieve at the club and I truly believe that Manchester United can build on the club’s tradition of success and reward our fans for their support."
MONEY MATTERS
Another part of De Gea's decision-making process was his wages.
The goalkeeper wanted to be be among the top earners at the club or could have been tempted to leave with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus interested.
His new £350,000-a-week wages see him move far closer to Alexis Sanchez, the highest-paid player at Manchester United - although Inter Milan are now paying a large part of his wages.
And it also means he is taking home more than any other goalkeeper in the world, with the new salary trumping that of Thibaut Courtois at Real Madrid and compatriot Kepa Arrizabalaga at Chelsea.
David De Gea, the Man Utd hero who drives a van, endured a horror World Cup and has a pop star WAG… who wouldn't live in Manchester
By Joe Brophy
DAVID DE GEA has backed himself to help restore Manchester United to its former glory.
His future in Manchester was aided by his long-term pop star girlfriend Edurne Gracia's decision to relocate to Manchester late last year.
The pair have been dating since 2010, but she made her name herself five years prior when she appeared on a Spanish reality show.
A positive for De Gea staying at United is not having to find a big enough garage elsewhere to house his stellar car collection.
And at 6ft 4ins, De Gea is a man that needs a car with a lot of legroom and has been pictured cruising around in his Mercedes-Benz Vito does.
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Finally, De Gea is understood to have wanted to repay Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the faith the manager put in him.
The goalkeeper made a number of key errors last season, including against Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea contributing to the Red Devils' failure to qualify for the Champions League.
But Solskjaer stuck by him, keeping De Gea in the side for the remainder of the season, despite calls for him to be dropped in favour of Sergio Romero.
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