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Man Utd chief Ed Woodward blasted in savage rant over David de Gea contract decision
MANCHESTER UNITED executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has been branded "lazy" over his decision to give David de Gea a new deal in a scathing rant by former Crystal Palace chief Simon Jordan.
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Woodward is ready to hand De Gea a six-year contract worth £375,000 per week and the United captaincy in a bid to convince him to stay.
The goalkeeper’s future has been in doubt all summer with his current deal set to expire next June.
However, United appear to have pulled out all the stops to keep him and Jordan believes the man in charge is making a big mistake.
De Gea made a number of high-profile errors last season as United slumped to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.
And outspoken former Eagles chief Jordan says Woodward is guilty of failing to look at other potential options.
“This is a lack of football savvy,” he told talkSPORT. “This is laziness."
Jordan then referenced a number of stats that painted De Gea in a bad light but did not reference where the numbers had come from.
“De Gea, you look at his performances and he is in decline,” he added.
“Statistics tell a certain story but most of the time they tell a real story.
“If you’re talking about the fact he’s made only 60 per cent of his passes out are successful, 69 per cent saves.
“That puts him in the bottom half of the Premier League as far as goalkeepers are concerned."
It was then put to Jordan by presenter Dan Kelly that De Gea’s form last season might have been more a symptom of playing for an ‘average’ United team.
“Sure, but I think there are average teams who have goalkeepers who are performing at a better level,” he added.
“I think that this is United going: ‘We don't need a goalkeeping problem. Can’t deal with that.
"'I’ve got problems with [Paul] Pogba, problems with [Romelu] Lukaku, I’ve got problems over here, I’ve got a manager [Ole Gunnar Solskjaer] who I think might be fit for purpose but I’m taking a fly on him.'
”So I think Woodward is being lazy. I’m not saying De Gea is in full decline, I’m just saying if you look at the statistics, where else do you get a reward?”