Former Arsenal goalkeeper ‘definitely not better than’ De Gea as Man Utd plot surprise transfer

Man Utd definitely shouldn’t replace David de Gea with former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the summer, according to Paul Parker.

with Man Utd keen to tie him down but on reduced terms.

The Spaniard’s contract expires in just over a year and there are rumours that Man Utd could choose to sell him this summer if he doesn’t commit to a new deal.

Parker told Bettors: “David De Gea is a top-class goalkeeper and I don’t see any reason why Man United would want to replace him at this moment in time.

“I definitely think that the club should take advantage of the option they have to extend his contract for a further year.

“I don’t know if I would give him a new contract right now but he has earned the right to be given at least one more year as the first choice to prove himself and if he continues performing so well he can get his contract extension.”

Parker added: “To me, De Gea is one of the best goalkeepers in the world even though people are talking badly about his distribution but that’s not important. Look at how many mistakes Allison and Ederson have made this season but it seems like it doesn’t matter because they are good at passing the ball.

“But let me put it this way… Try to put Varane or Eriksen in the goal, then Man United would have the best distributor of all teams but how many saves would they make? The important thing is to make saves and the ancient phrase ‘if you’re in doubt, kick it out’ still stands for goalkeepers in my opinion.

“And there is no way they should just get rid of him. They can’t do that. Sentiment shouldn’t be a deciding factor but in his case, I think it should play a role as he has been here for a lot of years and even won a Premier League under Sir Alex Ferguson.”

There have been reports recently in Italy claiming that Man Utd are interested in bringing former Arsenal goalkeeper Szczesny to Old Trafford in the summer if De Gea doesn’t renew.

But former Man Utd left-back Parker doesn’t think the Juventus goalkeeper is as good as the Red Devils’ long-serving number one.

Parker continued: “Wojciech Szczesny has been mentioned and he was never a great goalkeeper at Arsenal but he decided to move to Juventus to put something on his CV. He is not a player that could improve Man United and he is definitely not better than David De Gea.

“Right now De Gea doesn’t have anyone pushing him as Tom Heaton and Jack Butland always are going to accept to sit on the bench, which is weird but that’s how goalkeepers are even though it is strange.