Manchester United can't avoid David de Gea decision any longer after Sevilla disaster

If David de Gea is playing hardball with Manchester United then he might be waking up this morning regretting his negotiating position. His stance has been considerably weakened after a woeful night in Seville.

Rather than looking to wring a few extra thousand pounds a week out of United, the Spanish goalkeeper might have to make concessions of his own. This was a performance so disastrous that it could well force a rethink of the entire strategy for Erik ten Hag's goalkeepers.

Collectively this was an abomination of a performance from United, but the 3-0 defeat to Sevilla that dumped them out of the Europa League will be a stain on De Gea's copybook. He has been a great for United, but the question over whether he is good enough and suitable enough to continue are getting louder. They were deafening in the Ramon Sanchez-Pijuan.

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De Gea had blundered badly in the second game of this season, when a short, central pass to Christian Eriksen was pounced on at Brentford as part of a rude awakening for the new era. At that point, plans to build from the back were scaled back.

The Spaniard held his hands up to apologise that day, but his hands have never really been the problem. With talks over an extension to a contract that expires in just over two months at a delicate stage, his performance in Seville was a reminder that he is a far from perfect goalkeeper for Ten Hag's United.

The Dutchman was never likely to abandon one of his key principles for long and gradually the demands on De Gea have risen. Against Sevilla in the Europa League quarter-final second leg, he showed again that he will never be up to them.

On Wednesday, Ten Hag had spoken about