David De Gea is on his way out of Old Trafford, that's increasingly clear. The latest reports are indicating that the Spaniard has said his goodbyes to his teammates and all that's left is for United and Real Madrid to sort out a fee.
Not only will De Gea's obvious goalkeeping ability be missed but the leadership position that he has grown into in the past 12 months is going to take some filling as well. Since Alex Ferguson's retirement, United have been in recover mode.
Louis Van Gaal's first season in charge was a good start but, while the departure of the likes of Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher may have been necessary, it has left a squad with plenty of potential but not a massive amount of experience. In an effort to fix that, Van Gaal is reportedly aiming high.
Since Pep Guardiola's arrival at Bayern Munich, Bastian Schweinsteiger's previously untouchable position has been downgraded somewhat. He only managed 12 Bundesliga starts last season and while that was largely down to injury it is thought that Guardiola would be amenable to allowing the World Cup winner to depart the Allianz Arena.
The 30 year old has a year left on his contract and a number reports in the Sunday papers suggested that a fee in the region of £7.5 million would be enough to take him to Old Trafford.
That certainly sounds like a good idea as far as United are concerned and it is worth noting that these reports are certainly gaining traction in Germany. Lothar Matthaus, for example has gone on record saying that 'Schweinsteiger needs a coach who will play him according to his strengths, and Van Gaal will do that.'
We wouldn't go shelling out on a Schweinsteiger shirt just yet but it is certainly a very definite possibility.
