Manchester United: Louis van Gaal thankful that David de Gea transfer fell through

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has praised David de Gea's decision to reject a move to Real Madrid.

De Gea, 24, was named United's Player of the Season for the third successive year at the club's season awards on Monday 2 May after another stunning campaign in goal.

The Spain international was on the brink of leaving Old Trafford for the Santiago Bernabeu on transfer deadline day last September, only for the move to fall through at the last minute due to paperwork not completed in time for the deadline.

"Everyone knows he was invited to Madrid," Van Gaal said at Monday's ceremony, the Manchester Evening News reports. "His girlfriend is living in Madrid, his parents, Spanish. Real Madrid is a great club, but he is still here and as a manager I am so happy he is here and he deserves to win this title."

De Gea has once again enjoyed a stand-out campaign for United, recently saving a penalty from Romelu Lukaku in the FA Cup semi-final to give his side a fighting chance of silverware this season.

"It is difficult to say something, to win three years in a row is amazing, I am really happy," De Gea said. "I am really happy. It is an honour and I want to say thank you to everyone.

"It was a great save [to deny Lukaku]. In training, they took 10 penalties and I didn't save one! You have to be there in the important moments, I saved it and I am really happy for that."

While De Gea scooped the top award, Chris Smalling was named Players' Player of the Season. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson was named the club's Under-21 player of the year while Marcus Rashford, who has scored seven times since making his first-team debut in late-February, received the Under-18s gong.

Anthony Martial's debut effort against Liverpool was named the club's Goal of the Season.