Manchester United face Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day of the Premier League season, and Louis van Gaal is prepared to start David De Gea as the club’s No.2.
According to AS, van Gaal remains unimpressed by the Spain international’s performance against Paris Saint-Germain in pre-season, and is set to hand new signing Sergio Romero a start at Old Trafford on Saturday, leaving De Gea on the bench.
The Spanish newspaper claim that van Gaal believes the 24-year-old’s form may be affected by continued speculation surrounding his future.
With persistent reports linking De Gea to Real Madrid, his possibly bench-warming role suggests that the Dutchman may now be looking to force the former Atletico Madrid stopper’s move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
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With the new campaign just days away from kick off, it’s bizarre that United’s goalkeeper crisis remains ongoing.
De Gea, Victor Valdes and Anders Lindeegard could all be offloaded within the next few weeks – which would leave only Romero, 28, to start in between the posts.
If van Gaal’s intentions are now to sell De Gea to Los Blancos, quite why the former Netherlands manager has waited so late in the transfer window is a worrying decision.