Man Utd Transfer News: Van Gaal Lines-Up Dutch International To Replace £30m Star

With the January transfer now open for business, managers are working hard to strengthen their squads ahead of the second half of the season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Man Utd are linked with Newcastle United’s Tim Krul…

Manchester United are eyeing Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul as a potential replacement for David De Gea – who could make a £30m move to Real Madrid this summer, according to reports today.

As we reported yesterday, United have already agreed to sign Victor Valdes on a short-term deal with the former Barcelona stopper set to pen an 18-month contract at Old Trafford.

The Spaniard has been training with the former champions in recent months in a bid to regain full fitness from a serious knee injury after leaving the Nou Camp when his contract expired at the end of last season.

It seems the 32-year-old is set to make the move more permanent and interestingly, the Mirror claim that Valdes is unwilling to play a back-up role at United, which must place the future of current No.1 David De Gea in serious doubt.

De Gea has been United’s best performer this season but has just 18 months left on his current contract and with no sign of an extension being signed, there have been suggestions he’s keen to return to Spain with Real Madrid eyeing him as a replacement for Iker Casillas.

United are still desperately trying to agree terms over an extension but there is every possibility the Red Devils may be forced to cash-in if no deal is signed by the summer, and it’s understood they will demand around £30m for his services – despite the fact he’d have just 12 months left on his deal.

With so much uncertainty hanging over De Gea’s head, understandably Louis van Gaal is planning for the worse-case scenario and the Mirror claim he’s lining-up a move for Tim Krul – who he knows well from his time in charge of the Dutch national team.

Krul has been excellent for Newcastle since breaking into the first team set-up in 2011, so if he is brought in as De Gea’s replacement, he’d provide some serious competition to Valdes for the No.1 shirt next season.

It’s certainly going to be an interesting few months. You get the feeling that Valdes has been signed as an insurance policy against De Gea’s future. If he refuses to sign a new deal, then at least United will have an experienced keeper to step in and they’ll then look to bring in someone like Krul as a reliable back-up.

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However, there’s still a long way to go before this becomes a reality and United fans will be praying that the club are able to agree terms and persuade De Gea to extend his stay at Old Trafford, as he’s grown into one of the best keepers in the world over the past year or so.