‘I love the club’: David de Gea insists he is happy at Manchester United

David de Gea has insisted he is happy at Manchester United despite reportedly turning down a contract offer from the club. 

The Spaniard is entering the final few months of his current deal, and reports earlier this week suggested he had rejected the club’s opening approach for fresh terms.

One of the club’s best paid players, De Gea is on a reported £375,000 per week and United are keen to reduce that as they seek to bring squad wages more in line after years of chronic overspending. 

Despite the reports, De Gea maintained he is happy in the north-west, outlining his love for the club he first joined as a wide-eyed youngster under Sir Alex Ferguson.

‘I’ve been here many many years, enjoying every moment in this club playing many games,’ De Gea told Sky Sports. ‘Of course it’s great to be here, it’s a massive club and I love the club and I’m really happy here of course.

After initially struggling, De Gea has enjoyed a fine campaign and has made several top saves

Talks on a new deal are expected to conclude positively with Erik ten Hag keen to keep De Gea

‘It’s been the same over the years, there’s a lot of noise around the club but players just focus on games, especially the one we have one Sunday – a massive game for us because we want to finish in the top four.

‘Like I say, we have many many games so I think we have to be really really caring on training, recovering well, helping the team and that’s the most important thing, more than contracts or anything.’ 

Despite initial fears that he would not be suited to Erik ten Hag’s style, De Gea has underlined his importance to United with a series of impressive performances in recent weeks and months. 

The Athletic’s report claiming De Gea had rejected fresh terms suggests he received a good proposal but the goalkeeper believes his form and match-winning contributions demonstrate he is still one of the Red Devils’ most important players and an appropriate salary should be paid.

While De Gea has failed to convince at times when playing out from the back, Ten Hag is known as a pragmatic coach who has learned to appreciate the keeper’s worth while acknowledging that his distribution is something that he continues to work on.

As a result, instructions have been adapted accordingly and after a particularly erratic display of distribution in their 4-1 win over Real Betis earlier this month, he provided his support to De Gea.

Ten Hag has said that De Gea is working on his distribution in an effort to continue improving

Ten Hag said: ‘I can’t ignore (his kicking), but we have seen many games (where) he did really well.

‘David is working on that. He is improving and he will keep improving, I’m sure.’

United’s goalkeeping situation has been one of tumult this season, with Martin Dubravka returning to parent club Newcastle United having not gained the playing time he wanted while on loan with United. 

De Gea joined from Spanish club Atletico Madrid in 2011 and has since made over 500 appearances for the club. Winning the Premier League title in his second season, the Spaniard has since gone on to claim a host of other prizes, including the Europa League, the FA Cup and two League Cups.