Liverpool legend desperate for David De Gea to stay at Man United

David James may be a former Liverpool and Manchester City player, but the retired England No1 says he is wants David De Gea to stay at Manchester United.

The Red Devils goalkeeper wasn’t named in Louis van Gaal’s squad for their 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in their Premier League opener on Saturday amid continued reports of interest from Real Madrid.

Los Blancos are reportedly lining up a final bid for the Spain international after Van Gaal warned the 10-time European champions that a big fee would be required to secure the goalkeeper’s signature.

But James, as a former Premier League goalkeeper, doesn’t want to see one of the division’s most-entertaining shot stoppers move away from English top-flight despite his loyalties to United’s rivals.

“I want the best goalkeepers in the Premier League. Last year, he was probably the best performing goalkeeper in the league,” BT Sport pundit James told The Sport Review.

“So it sounds mad because we’re trying to sell entertainment with BT Sport, but you want goalkeepers at their best, which means clean sheets.”

James, who spent seven seasons at Anfield, added that De Gea’s potential move to Real Madrid would have a big impact on United’s title prospects.

“He is a massive difference [in their title bid],” James added.

BT Sport 1 has live coverage of the new Barclays Premier League season with Southampton v Everton this Saturday from noon. This season BT Sport Europe is the new home of European football with all UEFA Champions League matches and Uefa Europa League matches exclusively live, visit btsport.com/europe.