Louis van Gaal ramps up rift with David de Gea

Louis van Gaal claims David de Gea told one of his coaches he did not want to play for Manchester United in their first match of the season.

For the second successive week, De Gea has not been included in United’s match-day squad. The 24-year-old will not feature against Aston Villa tonight because Van Gaal is convinced he is not in the right frame of mind to play due to Real Madrid’s interest in signing him.

That was the same reason the Dutchman cited last week for leaving De Gea out of his squad for the season-opening win against Tottenham last Saturday.