Manchester United could be forced to pay a huge sum to offload David de Gea. 

With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seemingly favouring Dean Henderson for the number one spot at United, a departure for De Gea could be on the cards. 

However, fans of the Old Trafford club will be shocked to hear about the amount of money it will take to get De Gea off their books. 

How much will it cost United to part ways with De Gea? 

According to the Mirror, the Spanish stopper, who has been at United for ten seasons, has two years left on his current deal in Manchester. 

With the 30-year-old on a £350,000-a-week deal at Old Trafford, the Red Devils could end up paying a pretty big chunk of the remaining £36.4m in his contract to get him off the wage bill. 

Spotrac has listed the goalkeeper as the club's highest earner and considering the current financial climate due to the pandemic, United face an almighty challenge of offloading De Gea - who they value at £50m. 

Who else is on a considerably high wage at United?

Behind De Gea, United's top four highest-paid players also include Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani. These players have a combined annual salary of £58.5m a year, based upon Sportrac's statistics. 

Pogba joined Manchester United for a club-record fee in 2016 but it appears that his relationship has turned sour with the Red Devils. His agent Mino Raiola claimed that the midfielder wasn't happy at the club earlier this season and said he should leave in the summer transfer window. 

Martial has ultimately struggled this season, as Solskajer has tried to turn the Frenchman into a centre-forward. Across 21 appearances, the Frenchman has found the back of the net just four times, which doesn't justify his £250,000-per-week salary. 

Cavani, who recently signed for the club on a short-term contract, is another high earner at Old Trafford. The Uruguayan takes home £210,000 a week and has provided just six goals in return for Manchester United.

Ed Woodward's biggest failing? 

De Gea's latest contract report puts Ed Woodward's biggest failing as United's chief executive into sharp focus. Simply put, the Red Devils have got themselves into a situation where their four highest earners aren't consistently delivering for the team.

In some cases, such as De Gea's, it makes individuals incredibly difficult to move on, but the real issue is the pure inefficiency of it all. Over £1m per week is spent on four players who are often overshadowed by Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford - who all take home £200k per week or less. 

Money doesn't guarantee anything in football but it's clear that wages at Old Trafford no longer represent importance to the team.