De Gea rules out quick transfer

Manchester United’s signing of David De Gea to replace Edwin van der Sar is not as clear cut as Sir Alex Ferguson believes.

Atletico Madrid goalkeeper De Gea, has denied the 17 million pounds transfer is a done deal, insisting he will not sign until after the European Under 21 Championships.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson spoke in glowing terms about the 20-year-old earlier this week and speculation in England and Spain suggested De Gea would complete a switch to Old Trafford in the next couple of weeks.

But the Spaniard has baulked at claims a deal has already been struck and wants, instead, to focus on the upcoming Under 21 tournament in Denmark, kicking off on June 11.

De Gea’s lawyer released a statement to Spanish news agency EFE which read: “News has appeared in various media outlets that Atletico Madrid’s David De Gea has signed for Manchester United. I hereby notify you that it is not true a deal has been signed.”

“De Gea will not consider the contract extension offer from Atletico or any other offer until June 30 when he has finished his commitments with the Under 21 national team.’

Ferguson has named De Gea as the long-term successor to van der Sar, who will retire after Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona.

Speaking after Gary Neville’s testimonial on Tuesday, Ferguson told the club’s official website: “We’ve been working on it for quite a while. We identified him quite a while back as one we should go for.”

“He’s a young goalkeeper, very quick, good composure, presence and an outstanding replacement for Van der Sar.”

“We were looking for the same type of qualities as Edwin, because the one great quality Edwin always had was his composure and organisational ability.”

“With David De Gea, he is very similar that way.”

Atletico, who finished this season seventh in La Liga, want to tie De Gea down to a new contract with his existing one running until 2013.