LONDON: Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea is set to hand manager Louis van Gaal an almighty boost by declaring himself fit for Saturday evening’s visit to Arsenal.
De Gea dislocated his little finger during a training session for the Spanish national team last week but the injury is understood to have improved to such an extent that the player now believes he has a high chance of starting at the Emirates Stadium this weekend.
Sources close to the Spanish national team told Sportsmail on Tuesday evening that De Gea has ‘an 80 per cent’ chance of making the starting line-up when United return to Barclays Premier League action this weekend.
The Spaniard will be assessed by United’s medical staff and goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek upon his return to Carrington and providing the swelling continues to go down, he should be passed fit for Saturday’s game.
It is telling that De Gea has been allowed to remain with the national team despite suffering the injury. He was also named on the substitutes’ bench both for Spain’s 3-0 victory over Belarus on Saturday and the clash against Germany in Vigo on Tuesday night.
De Gea has started every Manchester United game this season and has often been the stand-out performer during the opening months of Van Gaal’s reign.
Meanwhile, Van Gaal must have feared his injury curse had struck again at Old Trafford after record signing Angel di Maria was asked to play on by Argentina having been stamped on the foot by Nani.
Di Maria crumpled to the ground in agony after Nani, still a Manchester United player but on loan to Sporting Lisbon, caught him with a reckless challenge after 18 minutes.
With Van Gaal watching anxiously from the stands, Argentina surprisingly asked Di Maria to continue after he had finally got to his feet after being stricken for a couple of minutes.
United’s injury list has already lengthened during the international break with Daley Blind (knee) joining Michael Carrick, Phil Jones, Radamel Falcao, Jonny Evans and Marcos Rojo on the casualty list.
It was only after an hour that Di Maria was finally replaced by Carlos Tevez even though Argentina manager Gerardo Martino afterwards admitted he had received a ‘tough blow’.
Martino said: “It cut the skin a little bit, it was a tough knock. We have had a look at it though and we don’t think it is anything serious. We took an X-ray and looked at the images and we are evaluating it. But in spite of that, we do not think it is serious.”
Di Maria added: “It was just a blow. I hope it doesn’t swell any more so I can play at the weekend.” Daily Mail