Ahead of this weekend’s opener against Spurs, the goalkeeping situation at Man Utd became more strained as Victor Valdes found his belongings removed from the first squad locker room to the reserves. Valdes angered Van Gaal when he refused to play with the U21 squad with the Dutchman further accusing the goalie of not following “my philosophy”.

Valdes was not part of Utd’s pre-season tour to the USA. He was also told he would not be part of first squad involvement. Van Gaal’s first choice goalie, David De Gea is seemingly unsettled with transfer rumours to Real Madrid and he did not calm jitters in a poor performance in the first half against PSG. With both first and second choice goalies facing uncertainty, Utd might have to rely on Sergio Romero just recently acquired from Sampdoria who played back up to Emiliano Viviano and 22 year old Sam Johnstone.

The news has not gone down well with Valdes’s Spanish teammates who see Van Gaal’s treatment as dismissive and arrogant towards a senior figure, a player who has been such an important part of Barcelona’s winning exploits and Spain’s World Cup success.