David de Gea does not want to play for Manchester United ever again — we know this because Louis van Gaal has revealed that’s what he said.
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Louis van Gaal announced on Thursday that De Gea, the 24-year-old superstar goalkeeper currently being sought after by Real Madrid, that the Spaniard would not feature for Man United this Friday when they take on Aston Villa (Watch live, 2:45 pm ET on NBCSN andonline via Live Extra), or longer, until the summer’s longest transfer saga has finally concluded.
Initially it sounded as if Van Gaal had made that decision 100 percent of his volition. As the day wore on, additional on-the-record quotes from Van Gaal began to emanate from Old Trafford that De Gea had actually told the United coaching staff he no longer wants to play for the club.
Van Gaal, on De Gea’s refusal to play for United, from the Guardian:“We talked with him [De Gea] and he fully agreed with our decision,” Van Gaal said. “I have one assistant coach and another assistant coach so we speak about that kind of thing together. We have a goalkeeping coach, Frans Hoek, and I’m not doing everything alone.
“Frans Hoek … he has a meeting with David de Gea and he asked him: ‘Do you want to play?’” Asked what the response was, Van Gaal said: “‘No.’ Then I have to take the decision. It is a process. We had been observing him in preparation, he was not so good, he was not the same David de Gea as before. He was my best player last season. According to the fans, he was the best of the last two years.”
De Gea has done everything but hand in a formal transfer request — an act that could very well cost him a fair chunk of change in loyalty bonuses and sell-on clauses embedded into his contract — as he hopes, wishes and prays for his move “ugly” Manchester and back to his sunny hometown of Madrid.
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If De Gea has indeed said he does not wish to be included in United’s squad going forward, and Van Gaal and Co. continue to play hardball with Madrid over the transfer fee — United want nearly $40 million, while Madrid would prefer to pay much less for a player in the final year of his contract — his only remaining options are to play out his current deal of hand in an official transfer request.
With 18 days remaining until the close of the summer window, time is running out on all parties.