Manchester, May 16 (IANS) English football club Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says the club already has replacements in mind if custodian David De Gea wishes to go away from Old Trafford.
The Spaniard’s contract ends after this season but he is yet to sign a new deal.
“We have a list of goalkeepers who can replace him because we have to be organised always,” van Gaal was quoted as saying by BBC on Friday.
Reports in Spain suggest the 24-year-old is planning to join La Liga giants Real Madrid. However, van Gaal wants de Gea, who joined the club in 2011, to stay and hopes he will sign the new deal being offered.
“We want him to stay and I hope he shall sign. You have three parties (involved) and the most important party is always the player. It’s dependable not of Manchester United, not of me, because we want him to sign. He has to sign, he has to want to stay here at Manchester United, I don’t know,” van Gaal said.
Van Gaal has spent more than 150 million pounds on seven new players this season and United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has said the club will be “active” again this summer. This has sparked speculation that the ‘Red Devils’ may go all out to rope in Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale.