De Gea ‘Not eager to play’

Manchester United’s want-away goalkeeper David De Gea, told the club he was not eager to play in their opening fixture of the Premier League against Tottenham Hotspur.

Boss Louis van Gaal surprisingly left the Spanish international goalkeeper out of his side’s 1-0 victory over Spurs but it seems he was left with no choice following De Gea’s admission that he didn’t feel in the right frame of mind.

Argentine new recruit Sergio Romero stepped in to take the place of the Real Madrid target and he has been rewarded for his display with a continued stint in the Old Trafford goal and is likely to keep his place and put a marker down for the rest of the season, with van Gaal reluctant to play De Gea before the end of the transfer window.

De Gea reportedly told Manchester United goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek that he was not ‘100% focused’ on the game and after consulting with Dutchman van Gaal, it was agreed between all parties that the goalkeeper would be left out for the opening day of the Premier League.

Van Gaal and his coaching team had observed the goalkeeper in training and it was agreed with all that they were seeing De Gea with a scrambled mind and that leaving him out would be best for the club at this stage.