David de Gea is a test of Erik ten Hag's ruthlessness at Manchester United

Has an eminent football club ever actively discussed extending the contract of a certain starter whilst reducing his salary?

That is the situation Manchester United are in with David de Gea. It is an admission of De Gea's decline and hardly a ringing endorsement of his No.1 status.

Certain senior figures at United are not convinced. Some have reservations about De Gea as the No.1 beyond this season and others over the renewal United have been negotiating with him for upwards of a year.

Also read: Doubts growing over De Gea's role at United

United could have triggered the one-year extension in De Gea's contract, phased him out over next season and released him next summer. Yet they have not done so as it risks raising De Gea's salary back to £375,000 in the event United qualify for the Champions League. That is as Glazernomic as it gets.

On De Gea's current form, there is a danger United will be consigned to another season of Thursday-Sunday matches. United failed to open up some breathing space in the Premier League table last week and Liverpool are now breathing down their necks.

De Gea's future is so topical that Erik ten Hag has his own script to counter questions about De Gea: he is top of the clean-sheet table in the Premier League. Ten Hag has used that stock answer in Seville and London.

De Gea has not had a dreadful season and there have been notable matchwinning performances (ironically, against West Ham in the league and cup). His fingernail denial of the Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta is possibly the save of the season.

To deify De Gea for the number of shutouts does overlook the fine seasons Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw have enjoyed. Diogo Dalot also contributed to De Gea's