Five ex-Man Utd stars for INEOS to target this summer with David De Gea return ‘seriously considered’

Five ex-Man Utd stars for INEOS to target this summer with David De Gea return ‘seriously considered’

David De Gea
De Gea is the former Red Devil who is reportedly lined up for a shock Old Trafford return, with the Premier League giants admitting his exit was a ‘mistake’.

Man Utd opted against extending De Gea’s contract in 2023 as former boss Erik ten Hag preferred a ball-playing goalkeeper and reunited with Andre Onana after they worked together at Ajax.

De Gea was thrust into the deep end at Man Utd before he was physically or mentally ready, but he grew into the No.1 role and became the world’s best goalkeeper before declining en route to leaving.

Onana, meanwhile, joined Man Utd as a more experienced goalkeeper and had an impressive debut season, albeit via a couple of disasters in the Champions League.

But Onana’s form has fallen off a cliff this season and Ruben Amorim reportedly cannot wait to get rid. A younger model will likely be preferred to De Gea, but the 34-year-old – with ten clean sheets in 27 Serie A games – is enjoying a swansong at Fiorentina and would not be a bad short-term solution and a cheap stop-gap with INEOS looking to save wherever they can.

Alvaro Carreras
As worrying as Onana’s decline is, Man Utd’s summer transfer priorities will lie elsewhere. A new striker likely leads the way with Amorim’s current crop being relegation-calibre, but they still need to sign one or two wing-backs capable of playing in the head coach’s preferred system.

£25m January signing Patrick Dorgu has proven to be useful with Luke Shaw stuck in the treatment room, while Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui do not possess the necessary attacking capabilities to deliver on what Amorim demands from his wing-backs in the final third.

Angel Gomes
As alluded to above, Man Utd will be working on a shoestring budget (unless these six stars bring in £231m combined) this summer and may even be forced to enter the free-agent market with several once-valuable assets due to leave their current clubs.

United won’t be able to sign Mohamed Salah or Virgil van Dijk, but they could give England international Gomes – who is “100%” leaving Lille – another opportunity to establish himself at his boyhood club.

The 24-year-old did not feature at all on our latest England ladder, as Thomas Tuchel was clearly not sold on Lee Carsley’s experiment, but the central midfielder more than held his own for The Three Lions after following in the footsteps of Jude Bellingham and co. in developing away from prying eyes in the Premier League.

Scott McTominay
Napoli have benefitted from Man Utd’s “misprofiling” of McTominay, who has been a revelation for the Serie A giants this season.

Man Utd have been poked and prodded by the Italian media, with the translation presumably reading: ‘What the f*** were United thinking when they sold McSauce?’.

Despite most of McTominay’s best moments for Man Utd coming in an attacking position, former coaches did not persist and foolishly used the £25m star as a No.6 or even at centre-back on occasion.

Former Chelsea and Spurs head coach Antonio Conte has exposed Man Utd’s mistake, with McTominay contributing seven goals and four assists in his debut season in a Frank Lampard-esque roaming role.

Anthony Elanga
Two of Man Utd’s many transfer mistakes were exposed by Elanga, who easily brushed Alejandro Garnacho aside to score a stunning winner for Nottingham Forest against Man Utd in midweek.

The Red Devils cashed in on Elanga for a measly £15m as they felt forced to somewhat balance the books after spunking £86m on Antony, and his sensational form for Forest since proves his former club left a lot of much-needed cash on the table with this pure profit sale.

Man Utd must regret investing in Antony over Elanga after their embarrassing misjudgment and their toothless attack would certainly be less shoddy with the Forest standout still in the mix.

Elanga has been lethal on the counter-attack this season, and he also may not have reached his ceiling yet. He’d be daft to leave Champions League-bound Forest for Man Utd. Amorim is surely cursing Ten Hag for letting the red-hot winger slip away for peanuts after his big moment on Tuesday night.