Manchester United has backed out of the contract extension they offered goalkeeper David de Gea, according to The Athletic.

De Gea accepted a big reduction on his current weekly salary of 375,000 pounds (about $ 476,902) in the deal United proposed because he wants to continue to play in a top club. However, the Red Devils have backed out of the original contract extension, which he already signed, and made him a new offer with an even lower wage.

De Gea's current contract will expire on Friday, June 30. The 32-year-old Spanish goalie won his second Premier League Golden Glove award in the 2022-23 season. United allowed 43 goals during the campaign, surpassing only Manchester City (33) and Newcastle United (33), meaning that he is still one of the top players in his position.

According to The Athletic, a Saudi club has expressed interest in bringing De Gea to the Saudi Pro League. However, there have been no confirmed reports. Multiple star players joined the Middle Eastern league on juicy deals this summer, so this would be a viable option for the goalie.

United have other goalkeepers on their mind just in case de Gea parts ways with them. They have reached out to Inter Milan's Andre Onana and their own youth development prospect Dean Henderson, who played in Nottingham Forest last season on loan.

Goalie is not the only position United is trying to optimize during the summer transfer window. The club did better than expected in the first season under Erik ten Hag, finishing third in the Premier League, but the gap between them and the top two teams, City and Arsenal, is still huge. That's why the Red Devils want to sign at least another star center-forward and a world-class midfielder.

United have been linked with Rasmus Hojlund of Atalanta, Randal Kolo Muani of Eintracht Frankfurt, Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur and Mason Mount of Chelsea. Their third offer of 50 million pounds (about $63.6 million) of the initial fee, plus five million pounds (about $6.4 million) in add-ons for Mount, was rejected by Chelsea. Bayern Munich want to sign Kane as well. Their 70-million-euro (about $76.7 million) bid for the English ace scorer was also rejected by Hotspur.