David De Gea is keen to extend his eight-year spell at Manchester United but remains acutely aware of the importance of winning the Champions League in his career.
The Spanish goalkeeper has still to agree a new contract at Old Trafford after the club triggered their option to extend his current deal by a further year in November.
De Gea could leave the club for free in the summer of 2020 should a new deal not be struck, and United's qualification for next season's Champions League could prove critical in negotiations over a new contract, MEN Sport understands.
United sit fifth in the Premier League and have eight games remaining to secure their berth in the top four to secure automatic qualification for next season's competition - should they not win this year's edition. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are two points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal and three shy of Tottenham in third.
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Barcelona await the Reds in the Champions League quarter-finals next month after United became the first team in the history of the European Cup to overturn a two-goal deficit in the second-leg of a knock-out round away from home by beating Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 earlier this month.
De Gea has won the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Europa League and the League Cup since Sir Alex Ferguson signed him from Atlético Madrid for £18.9 million in 2011 and MEN Sport understands the 28-year-old is keen to add a Champions League medal to his collection.
United have not reached the semi-finals of the competition during De Gea's time at the club, with this season's run equalling the stage at which United, under David Moyes' tutelage, were knocked out at the hands of Bayern Munich in 2014.
De Gea was close to a move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2015 after a season without European football but the arrival of Emilio Álvarez, the goalkeeping coach, at the beginning of Jose Mourinho's tenure in the summer of 2016 was key to ensuring De Gea stayed at Old Trafford.
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Álvarez was De Gea's coach at Atlético and MEN Sport understands that De Gea felt rejuvenated by Álvarez's arrival at United, with the coach's methods ensuring a raise in De Gea's standards that the goalkeeper felt had not been achieved under some of his previous coaches at the club.
Álvarez, 47, enjoys a close relationship with the Spanish speakers at Old Trafford, with De Gea and compatriots Juan Mata and Ander Herrera particularly tighly-knit.
Herrera and Mata both entered the final six months of their current United deals in January but the MEN's information is that both remain keen on extending their respective careers at the club despite interest from elsewhere in their services. It is thought that the pair, along with De Gea, are aware of their special relationship with supporters at Old Trafford, while United's stature in world football forms part of their thinking.
