De Gea has found himself at the centre of a war of words between United and Real after the necessary paperwork for his move to Madrid failed to arrive before Monday’s deadline

Javier Hernández talked yesterday about wanting to feel “loved” again after completing a £7.3 million move to Bayer Leverkusen from Manchester United. “I want to go back to feeling important and happy,” the Mexico striker said. “I want to find happiness.” It was a diplomatic way of saying that he was glad to see the back of Louis van Gaal.

By contrast, Ángel Di María had opted not to mince his words 24 hours earlier when asked about the United manager and his departure from Old Trafford for Paris Saint-Germain.

“Van Gaal has his philosophy and one of the things that made me want to leave is that,” the Argentina winger said. “It is difficult to adapt to Van Gaal. I had a couple of