David De Gea: Talk of Louis Van Gaal row ‘lies’

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has dismissed speculation he has fallen out with manager Louis van Gaal.

Reports in Spain this week claim De Gea has not spoken to the United boss in “a few months”, amid strong rumours of a move to Real Madrid for the Spaniard.

But De Gea rejected that notion out of hand.

“Everything that has been written in the press about us not getting on is a lie,” De Gea said.

“We both want the best for the club and the team, and the stories are complete lies.”

After signing seven players in his first year at the club, Van Gaal is expected to make more additions in the summer.

But for many United fans, the Dutchman’s priority should be extending De Gea’s contract, which expires at the end of next season.

The Spaniard has rescued United on countless occasions this season.

Few would have thought he was capable of such performances when at the start of his United career, when he made a series of howlers.

He thinks those days are firmly behind him, though.

“I think this is the best period of my career,” said De Gea.

“I am playing the best football that I’ve ever played.

“I’m really enjoying it at the moment and I’m just trying to improve with every training session and every game that goes by, giving 100% and concentrating to the maximum. That’s the way I want to continue.”

Meanwhile, Louis van Gaal cannot bear to think about failing to escape from the frantic “rat race” he is currently involved in.

Despite a run of two defeats in 16 Premier League matches, Manchester United’s place in the top four does not look as solid as it did at the turn of the year.

Although Southampton have dropped to fifth they remain just one point behind United while Liverpool and Tottenham’s upturn in form has pushed them to within reach of their rivals.

Van Gaal believes all four teams and third-place Arsenal are involved in an almighty scrap for the final two Champions League places and that is why he thinks victory over Sunderland today is vital.

“It is because of the rat race between five clubs that we have to win, we have to be there,” the United manager said.

“You have to win your matches because the other clubs are winning their matches.”

The bad news for Van Gaal is that he looks likely to be without Robin van Persie for at least two weeks because of an ankle injury he suffered in the 2-1 defeat at Swansea last weekend. Van Persie left the Liberty Stadium on crutches and scans have shown he is likely to be unavailable for some time.

“He has an ankle problem,” Van Gaal said. “I don’t think it’s very heavy but an ankle problem takes a long time. It’s not one week or two weeks but we have to wait and see.”

Van Persie’s absence increases the chances of Radamel Falcao being brought back into the starting XI. Falcao, like Van Persie, has endured a difficult season at United, scoring just four league goals since his expensive loan move from Monaco.

For his part, Sunderland boss Gus Poyet feels the criticism United have got this season is harsh.

He said: “I think people are being a little bit harsh on Manchester United at the moment. They are not as bad as people think because they are in a good position, and if they get in the top four a few people are going to have to recognise they have done better than people expected.”