We wouldn’t have envied David De Gea’s position on 1 September.
It looked almost certain that the Manchester United goalkeeper had already played his final game at Old Trafford and that his path to Real Madrid had been cleared.
But after a paperwork snag, it ended up with David De Gea remaining in Manchester and made the inevitable rendezvous with Louis van Gaal all the more awkward.
To be fair, it didn’t take long for the Spaniard to regain his starting place for the Red Devils and De Gea has revealed this week how the meeting with Van Gaal went.
“From the first I day I came back, after all that happened, he gave me a lot of confidence, told me I would play, to relax and keep doing what I had done before. He is a joker, makes a lot of jokes. Now and again he likes to do something so that there is a good mood. But we talk mostly about football.”
De Gea was speaking to Spanish outlet Fuera De Juego while on international duty and also explained how the United fans made his transition back into the fold all the easier.
“The first game I returned, after all that had happened, was impressive. The way Old Trafford received me, it made the hairs stand up. It’s very difficult to describe what that day was like. I really appreciate it.”