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Who says there's no heart in football any more? According to the club website, noted philanthropist Louis van Gaal has offered former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes the chance to complete his recovery from injury with Manchester United. Should he accept, his recovery will be supervised by United's doctors, and he will then train with the first team.
Van Gaal was head coach at Barcelona for the first few months of the 2002-03 season, the season that Valdes first began to emerge as a possible first-team player, though they didn't always enjoy the best of relationships. The 32-year-old goalkeeper was due to join Monaco last summer, but that move was scuppered after Valdes tore his anterior cruciate ligaments in March, an injury that ended his Barcelona career early and ruled him out of the World Cup. Since then, he's been without a club.
It's not clear if this will go any further than simply rehabilitation. While Valdes would represent an excellent, experienced back-up to David de Gea, tBB suspects he's still looking for a first-team role somewhere. And while recent reports have suggested that Liverpool are looking elsewhere, that possibility still lingers. Funny things happen all the time in football, but Manchester United training up Liverpool's next goalkeeper? That would be a new one