Manchester United: Louis van Gaal urges David de Gea to reclaim his position

Louis van Gaal insists that David de Gea still has a future at Manchester United, but only if he can convince the Spaniard to stay until after the transfer window.

The goalkeeper has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid, with the player refusing to extend his contract at Old Trafford, which expires next season. The two clubs are yet to come to a consensus on the fee, as reported by Sky Sports, which has seemingly affected his concentration. Van Gaal is unwilling to risk keeping him in the squad and the player was dropped in their 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, 8 August, with new signing Sergio Romero taking his position.

Victor Valdes has already been told that he will have no further role to play at the club leaving the club at a precarious position in relation to their first choice keeper. Romero made some astute saves against Tottenham, who had come to Old Trafford with a performance worthy of a team competing for a place in the top four.

"Of course he could," Van Gaal said, when asked if De Gea can start again, as quoted by the Guardian.

"If he is still here on 1 September we will look again, but he cannot play before that because as a goalkeeper you need the highest concentration, and it is difficult when you are in a position like David. We saw in pre-season his focus was not quite there and we made the decision on Wednesday not to play him."

The manager conceded that United were lucky that they did not go behind early in the game, when Christian Eriksen went through on goal.

"Sergio saved us twice. And Spurs had the first clear chance, they could have scored right at the start, so we were lucky. Maybe that was my fault, I might have laid too much pressure on the players because I wanted to win after the bad start we made last year. It was not the greatest performance, we still have to improve, but the most important thing is that we won," the manager added.