Louis van Gaal has revealed that he dropped David De Gea after the goalkeeper informed members of the Manchester United coaching staff that he did not wish to play in the opening game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur.
Distracted by interest from Real Madrid, De Gea first disclosed his reservations about facing Spurs in a conversation with Frans Hoek, United’s goalkeeping coach, in the days leading up to last Saturday’s fixture.
After learning of De Gea’s wish to be omitted, Van Gaal took the decision to drop the Spain No 1 until the transfer window has closed, having held talks with his backroom staff and come to the conclusion that he would not be in the right frame of mind to play while Real continue their pursuit.
“We’ve talked with him; he fully agreed with our decision,” the United manager said. “I have one assistant coach [Ryan Giggs] and another assistant coach, so we speak about that kind of thing. We have a goalkeeping coach, Frans Hoek. I’m not doing everything alone. “Frans Hoek had a meeting with David De Gea and asked him, ‘Do you want to play?’” Asked how the 24-year-old responded, Van Gaal said: “No.” He added: “Then I have to take the decision. It is a process.”
Although United later attempted to clarify Van Gaal’s comments by claiming that De Gea’s answer had not been “No”, they did confirm that the goalkeeper was not eager to play because of the uncertainty over his future, meaning that he was not 100 per cent focused. That decision was also coloured by what Van Gaal perceived to be a drop in form from De Gea during pre-season. “We had been observing him in preparation. He was not so good, he was not the same David De Gea as before,” Van Gaal said.
As well as ruling out any possibility of recalling De Gea for United’s Premier League game tonight away to Aston Villa, Van Gaal also refused to offer any guarantees that he will reclaim his place, stressing that the form of Sergio Romero, his replacement, will dictate that. “That depends on Romero and his form. It is always like that,” he said.
While De Gea has been named in United’s 28-man squad for their two-legged Champions League qualifier against Club Bruges, he will not feature in either match unless Van Gaal has an unexpected change of heart.
Real’s determination to add De Gea to their ranks has not yet prompted them to meet United’s £33 million valuation of a player who will be out of contract in 12 months’ time. United would prefer to lose De Gea on a free transfer next summer than to allow him to leave for less than their valuation, but that position could now come under increased strain in light of his reluctance to play against Spurs.