Van Gaal wants United’s best player De Gea to stay

De Gea was left out of the matchday squad, Van Gaal saying before the game that the player’s head was not right following the interest from Real Madrid.

De Gea was partly to blame for a goal United conceded in their 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain but Romero, who arrived from Sampdoria, has not featured in any of their preseason friendlies.

Walker prodded the ball into his own net in the 22nd minute as the Spurs defender tried to deny United captain Wayne Rooney an easy scoring opportunity at a sunlit Old Trafford.

The Dutchman was reasonably satisfied with Romero’s performance, but would prefer to have De Gea in goal for United again soon and still hopes the Spaniard will stay.

“We have to pay a lot of money for all the players we want so we want to sell at the same level”. “We want to keep him of course”.

As uncertainty continued to swirl around the future of the brilliant stopper, long linked with a move to Real Madrid, Van Gaal, who dropped him for United’s opening Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur, said: “We can not let him go so easily”.

“Of course when the situation has been cleared after the first of September, we look again”.

Van Gaal also singled out praise for Sergio Romero because “he kept a clean sheet with wonderful saves” which meant it made the boss happier after his first start for United.

“We have to improve his building up, but Sergio trained only two days with his fellow players”.

Of the new faces, Van Gaal was impressed by right-back Darmian the most.

Louis van Gaal’s side have been among the busiest in the world this summer, concluding major deals for Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay and Matteo Darmian. “The Dutch journalists can confirm that I think a human being is more than only a player and he cannot manage that”. “I can’t lose the ball too much, but I can make risks on the sides and when I come into the third phase, then I can make my tricks and take risks”.

Someone just got a little carried away.

Spurs are aiming to finish in the top four of the league table this season, but they have started the 2015-16 campaign on a losing note.

Di Maria created more chances than any other United player last season, creating 51 goalscoring opportunities of which ten lead to assists.