Manchester United: Real Madrid hand Red Devils an ultimatum over David de Gea transfer

Manchester United have reportedly been handed an ultimatum by Real Madrid over the transfer of David de Gea, according to Spanish daily ABC.

The report claims that the Spanish capital club have made a take-it-or-leave-it offer, which is said to be around €25m (£17.6m, $27.4m) plus €5m depending on appearances and successes achieved with the club in the future.

Jorge Mendes, who is De Gea's agent, is reportedly in talks with the club and it is claimed that he expects the Red Devils to agree to this offer, rather than risk losing the Spanish international on a free transfer next summer.

The 24-year-old former Atletico Madrid star, has just one year remaining on his current deal, and Real are confident about landing him for nothing next summer if United do not accept their current offer.

De Gea will be free to sign a pre-contract agreement with any club outside of England in January, and with Keylor Navas and Kiko Casilla available to Rafael Benitez, he is not in a hurry to meet the 20-time English champions' demands, which according to the Daily Mail, is £35m ($54.4m).

Louis van Gaal is reluctant to let De Gea leave the club, and despite dropping him for their opening encounter against Tottenham on Saturday (8 August), he has opened the door for the keeper to remain at the club for another year.

"Of course he could," Van Gaal said, when asked if De Gea can start again, as quoted by the Guardian.

"If he is still here on 1 September we will look again, but he cannot play before that because as a goalkeeper you need the highest concentration, and it is difficult when you are in a position like David. We saw in pre-season his focus was not quite there and we made the decision on Wednesday not to play him," he added.

The Dutch manager is keen to sort out his number one's future at the earliest as he believes that it is affecting the entire team, and according to Spanish publication AS, he has asked United's hierarchy to sanction De Gea's move to Real.

The Premier League club have targeted Ajax's Jasper Cillessen as a replacement in the event of the Spaniard's departure, with a Daily Telegraph report suggesting that the Red Devils already have an agreement in place with the Eredivisie club for the transfer of the Netherlands international stopper.