David de Gea’s future at Man United remains uncertain so who the candidates to succeed the Spaniard?

David de Gea has been a near fixture in Manchester United‘s team since joining back in 2011, but his future is uncertain with the goalkeeper having reportedly turned down the club’s latest contract offer.  

The Spanish stopper’s existing £375,000-a-week deal will expire this summer, with the expectation he will need to take a pay cut to remain at the club.

Talks are still expected to end with a positive resolution, allowing Erik ten Hag’s No 1 to add to his more than 500 appearances for the Red Devils and improve his record number of clean sheets.

Brentford’s David Raya and Porto’s Diogo Costa are reportedly among the options under consideration by United as they start to look at contingencies in case De Gea ultimately leave.

Sportsmail assesses the potential options should Manchester United be forced into the market in the summer in search of a new number one.

David de Gea’s future at Man United is uncertain with his contract expiring in the summer

David Raya (Brentford)

The Brentford goalkeeper is currently ahead of De Gea in the eyes of recent Spanish national team coaches. Luis Enrique picked Raya in his squad for their ill-fated World Cup campaign in Qatar and Luis de la Fuente appears to be following suit.

The 27-year-old appears increasingly likely to be moving on from Brentford in the summer, with Tottenham said to be keen on Raya as a successor to their long-standing number one Hugo Lloris.

Raya has twice turned down approaches to extend his contract in west London, which expires in 2024, leading to suggestions Brentford may cash in for around £40million. The question is whether he could step up, with Gary Neville believing Raya could cope with the scrutiny at United.

Raya has conceded one less goal than De Gea in the Premier League this season, with both having been ever presents for their respective sides.

Brentford’s David Raya has been tipped as a successor due to his ball playing abilities

Raya, pink, boasts a higher save percentage in the Premier League than De Gea this season

Data provided by the stats gurus at Delphlyx shows Raya has on average faced more shots per game than De Gea by 5.19 to 3.70, which would be expected when comparing a Brentford goalkeeper to one at Man United. 

Raya impressively has a higher save percentage compared to his countryman, keeping out 77.27 per cent of shots this season to De Gea’s 70.83.

The Brentford goalkeeper is significantly more proactive having registered 1.73 exits per 90mins to De Gea’s 0.66, representing the amount of times the respective No 1s come off their line.

Given criticism of De Gea’s ability with his feet, it’s initially surprising to see he has a higher percentage of successful passes.

However, Raya tops the number of passes by a Premier League goalkeeper this season with 1,026, significantly clear of second placed Gavin Bazunu of Southampton on 886. De Gea, by comparison, has completed 711 passes.

Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)

A short-term solution could be Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak, who is just two years younger than De Gea at 30.

The upside is that Oblak is a known quantity at the very highest level, with the Slovenian international having coped under the spotlight at Atletico Madrid.

He has been a vital member of their LaLiga and Europa League winning sides during his time with the Spanish giants, along with finishing as a Champions League runner-up.

Oblak is approaching 400 games for Atletico Madrid since joining the club back in 2014.

He has achieved a clean sheet in close to half of his matches and has conceded just 28 goals in 34 games this season.

Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak is only two years younger than De Gea but a safe pair of hands

 Oblak has typically faced less shots per match in LaLiga than De Gea does at Man United

Diogo Costa (Porto)

At 23, Porto’s goalkeeper Diogo Costa could represent a long-term successor to De Gea.

Costa has been touted as one of Europe’s top young stoppers and has supplanted Rui Patricio as Portugal’s first choice since making his international debut in 2021.

United fans may have reservations following a couple of high-profile errors by Costa at the World Cup. 

He first escaped embarrassment after being caught on ball in the dying seconds of a group stage win over Ghana, before being at fault for Youssef En-Nesyri’s winning goal when Morocco stunned Portugal in the quarter-finals.

At club level, Costa has kept 16 clean sheets in 33 matches this season with Porto having only conceded 25 goals with him between the sticks.

Similarly to Raya, Costa ranks well when comparing his save percentage and number of exits per match to De Gea, while the Porto goalkeeper tends to find his team-mates when passing out from the back. 

With Porto currently lying second in the Primeira Liga, it comes as no surprise that Costa typically faces less shots per match. De Gea has the edge when it comes to expected goals xG saved this season by 1.24 to 0.61. 

Porto’s Diogo Costa could be an expensive but long-term successor to De Gea at just 23

The Portuguese number one, pink, has a higher save percentage and registers more exits

Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao)

Ten Hag enjoyed much of his success at Ajax with Andre Onana in goal, with the former Barcelona academy product known for his ability on the ball.

According to Delphlyx, Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Simon compares most similarly to Onana this season.

At 25, Simon would be another long-term option for United but the goalkeeper boasts considerable experience. 

Simon has racked up 150 appearances for the Basque club since coming through their youth system. He is also among the goalkeepers to have been preferred to De Gea at international level, having been capped 30 times by Spain since his debut in 2020.

Simon has made 22 appearances in LaLiga this season, conceding 25 goals and keeping eight clean sheets. Yet the stats point heavily in favour of De Gea this campaign, with the United keeper having a higher save percentage despite facing more shots.

Statistics have compared Unai Simon to Andre Onana, Erik ten Hag’s goalkeeper at Ajax

De Gea has vastly outperformed Simon across a range of data points throughout the season

Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund)

German newspaper Kicker ranked Gregor Kobel as the Bundesliga’s top goalkeeper this season during the World Cup break.

The 25-year-old has become the latest name linked with the Red Devils, amid reports the current Bundesliga leaders are planning to offer him a new contract to ward off potential interest.

Kobel has been capped just four times for Switzerland to date, with Yann Sommer having long been established as their first-choice goalkeeper.

The Dortmund shot stopper has enjoyed a superb second season at the Signal Iduna Park, after joining from Stuttgart back in 2021.

Kobel has conceded just 22 goals from his 25 matches in all competitions and the club missed his presence when injury forced him to miss their 2-0 second leg defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League earlier this month.

He compares favourably to De Gea this season with Kobel having a high save percentage, despite facing more shorts per 90 minutes. The Dortmund keeper also makes more exits and a vastly high pass completion rate to the Spaniard, while he finds team-mates more often from goal kicks.

Gregor Kobel has starred during his second season at Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund

Kobel, pink, makes more exits and a vastly high pass completion rate compared to De Gea

Dean Henderson (Manchester United, on loan at Nottingham Forest)

Could Manchester United already have the answer at Old Trafford? Dean Henderson certainly thought so.

The 26-year-old claimed back in August the club had promised he would usurp De Gea as first choice last season, having made 26 appearances for the Red Devils the previous campaign. 

Henderson hit out at the club for making false promises in a brutal interview after he played just three times, leading to him pushing for a loan move to Nottingham Forest.

The comments appear to have burned Henderson’s bridges at the club for good with a summer transfer a possibility, given his contract expires in 2025.

Henderson had started 18 times for Forest in the league this season, before suffering a thigh injury in January.

Prior to his injury, Henderson was facing 4.92 shots per game at the relegation threatened side, making 3.24 saves on average. His save percentage is lower than De Gea, although Henderson has outperformed the current Man United No.1 on the xG saved.

Henderson continues to make significantly more exits from the penalty area than De Gea, as he did when the pair were going head-to-head for the number one spot two seasons ago.

Dean Henderson had accused Man United of making false promises to him last season

Henderson, pink, has a lower save percentage during his season loan at Nottingham Forest