Before playing Leeds United, Manchester United said goodbye to one of their key players.
Leeds’ first preseason game of the year, which will pit Daniel Farke’s team against Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United in Norway, is only two days away. We are unlikely to see the best of either squad at this point in preseason, with summer internationals not expected to be part – or at least not heavily.
The match will nonetheless be a significant checkpoint for both teams as they work to improve their match fitness over the following three to four weeks.
At this juncture, both Uniteds are still building their squads, with Farke needing to get rid of some of the highest-earning players while also adding players who can contend for promotion from the Championship. Ten Hag, who finished third last season, needs to assemble a team that can compete for the Premier League championship.
Man United have been forced to be cautious about how much money they spend to new contracts as a result, and this has caused them to pause in their negotiations with veteran custodian David De Gea. Because of this, the most recent Golden Glove winner in the Premier League has left the Old Trafford team when his contract expired on June 30.
The Spaniard spent 12 years at Manchester United, but he is leaving the team in pursuit of other opportunities. He will obviously be unavailable for selection for Leeds’ match in Norway as a result of the move.
“I would like to express my unwavering gratitude and appreciation for the love from the last 12 years,” De Gea said in a statement after leaving. Since my dear Sir Alex Ferguson welcomed me to this club, we’ve accomplished a lot.
Every time I put this shirt on, I felt a tremendous sense of pride. Only a select few fortunate footballers received the honor of leading the team and representing this institution—the largest club in the world. Now is the ideal time to take on a fresh task and push myself once more under unfamiliar circumstances.
Since I’ve been here, it’s been an incredible and fruitful time. I didn’t imagine we would accomplish what we did as a team when I left Madrid as a young child. My heart will always belong to Manchester. I’ll never forget how Manchester shaped me. Everything has been witnessed by us.