are willing to commit an embarrassing U-turn over by bringing the goalkeeper back to the club , according to reports.
The Spaniard, a four-time recipient of the club’s Player of the Year award, spent 12 seasons at Old Trafford before being released over the summer.
United were criticised for their treatment of the long-serving shot-stopper, who had an already drastically reduced salary offer taken off the table at the last minute before the club then went and signed .
De Gea had won the Golden Glove award in his final campaign with the Red Devils, and .
Despite some measure of redemption in Tuesday’s Champions League win over Copenhagen, in which he saved a stoppage-time penalty to secure the victory, Onana has committed a string of gaffes in an underwhelming start to life at the club.
According to , in addition to his error-strewn displays, United have been left reeling by the 27-year-old’s decision to end his international retirement.
Onana had left the Cameroon setup after a falling out with head coach Rigobert Song during the World Cup in Qatar last year, flying home from the tournament early, but ended his exile last month to help the side qualify for the African Cup of Nations.
While he has yet to make a decision over whether he will play in the competition, which runs for a month over January and February, United are said to be worried they will lose their number one and be short of keepers at the turn of the year.
As such, they are now planning an astonishing bid to bring De Gea back to the club on a free transfer despite dumping him just a few months ago.
Were Cameroon to make the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, Onana could miss as many as nine games and United feel they need a more dependable keeper to fill in than their current options.
Erik ten Hag currently has summer recruit Altay Bayindir and veteran Tom Heaton as his options but would prefer to have De Gea between the sticks for a run of games that includes hosting current league leaders Tottenham as well as away trips to Wolves and Aston Villa.
It is not yet clear if De Gea will entertain a return but he was spotted watching the United women’s team recently and has also met up with skipper Bruno Fernandes.
He has not signed with another club yet despite a number of offers and could accept a short-term deal until the end of the season which would also provide him with the chance to get the proper send-off he was denied.
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