Herrera fear over future of De Gea
ANDER Herrera has admitted David de Gea’s future is up in the air.
The United keeper is being targeted by Real Madrid again, two years after his proposed move to the Bernabeu fell through on deadline day.
The 26-year-old is under contract at Old Trafford until at least 2019. But Herrera, a close friend of De Gea’s, accepts ‘anything could happen’ if Real Madrid make a firm offer at the end of the season.
He said: “I tried not to bring up the De Gea to Real Madrid topic.
“It’s difficult for him to one day be at one place, and then to be at another the next.
“He learned a lot from this. It has made him more mature. I want him to be the one defending Manchester United’s goal.
“Hopefully it will be like that, but anything can happen in football.” JORDI Alba fits the bill for Jose Mourinho.
An attacking full-back who can defend at one end and attack at the other would be a valuable asset to any team.
Especially one that, for now, does PAUL Pogba has the quality to become a 25-goal-a-season midfielder – but don’t expect it yet.
That’s the view of former United captain Nemanja Vidic.
The ex-Reds defender believes Pogba’s £89m world record fee when he was bought from Juventus last not have an
While Antonio Valencia has been Mourinho’s first-choice on the right, he has used Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Ashley Young and Luke Shaw on the other side. Even Henrikh Mkhitaryan has filled in on occasion.
It is, though, Shaw’s situation that is most relevant. At his best, he is established leftback. summer by Jose Mourinho has rocketed expectation levels on the Frenchman and the 24-year-old is not yet ready to fulfil them.
“Paul is a great player, his ability is not to score 25 goals a season. He is about creating situations all over the field and score maybe 10 goals, 15 goals,” Vidic said.
“His potential and actual quality, he can change his game and can become a player that scores 20, 25 not unlike Alba. Quick, tenacious and aggressive like all good attacking full-backs, he was considered a sound investment when he arrived as a teenager from Southampton in the summer of 2014.
Louis van Gaal declared the 2015/16 campaign ‘the season of Luke Shaw.’ But eight months and an horrendous leg break later, it has become a guessing game about whether he will travel to matches – let alone start them.
Mourinho has been critical, in particular after the 3-1 defeat at Watford in September.
But, speaking last month, the United manager insisted the 21-year-old will still be at Old Trafford next season.
“He has had a couple of small injuries this season and needs to adapt,” said Mourinho.
“He knows what I like in a defender, he knows that I like stability, that I don’t like mistakes, that for me it is to trust a player totally and he has to work to get it.
“And when he is on the pitch again he has to try to give me that step-by-step because he is still only a young player.
“Sometimes people forget he is only a young player with a lot to learn but I like the player and I like the boy. He will be here for sure. goals. I think it’s difficult when people see Pogba and expect him to do something which is not his game.
“I think he has done some good stuff this season, of course he didn’t give his best but he played 40 matches which is important as well – his presence on the pitch.
“As a midfield player, you need someone who is powerful, tall and a presence in the middle of the park. Leaving is out of the question.”
They are encouraging words. But it is hard to escape the fact that Shaw has only started two games this year and has been omitted from three of the last four match squads.
Mourinho has shown with Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin that he does not make a habit of keeping players who want to leave.
The decision, then, will lie with Shaw, who is under contract until at least 2018, and whether he believes he will get regular football under Mourinho. There will be plenty of Premier League suitors if not.
All the while, Alba’s situation in Barcelona will intrigue United.
Seemingly unsettled at Camp Nou, there may be a small window of opportunity to persuade the Spaniard he would be better off at Old Trafford.
The prospect of playing for United, and for Mourinho, is said to interest the 28-year-old. But then they were told the same about Sergio Ramos in 2015 and the chase ended in calamity.
United and Ed Woodward will be keen to avoid a similar situation.
But they are in the business of signing world-class players. And there may be an opening at leftback this summer.
“I’m sure next season he will be even better.”
Will Pogba, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, live up to the fee in the future?
“It depends what the people expect from him,” added Vidic.
“I think the problem is the market is crazy at the moment - to buy the player you need you have to pay crazy money.”