End-game for David?

DAVID De Gea waved goodbye to Old Trafford yesterday and Louis van Gaal could give no guarantees he would be back next season.

De Gea hobbled off in the 74th minute of the 1–1 draw against Arsenal with a hamstring injury and there is a growing feeling he won’t be seen in a Manchester United shirt again.

Van Gaal was asked repeatedly about De Gea’s future after the game and though he said the 24–year–old Spaniard would “not leave us so easily”, he appeared braced for that outcome and didn’t refute suggestions the player might be heading for Real Madrid.

The United boss said: “You are asking things I cannot answer because I don’t know. He has to decide because we have given him a fantastic contract because we want him to stay. But he is Spanish, he is a Spanish international and now a Spanish club is coming. His girlfriend is Spanish.”

United have already started planning for life without De Gea. Van Gaal has drawn up a shortlist of potential replacements despote offering the goalkeeper “a lot of money” to persuade him to sign again.

De Gea was fantastic again yesterday, saving from Aaron Ramsey and his own team–mate Phil Jones. The only time he was beaten was when Theo Walcott’s shot took an unfortunate deflection off Tyler Blackett.