De Gea in limbo following benching

The future of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea became more complicated on Saturday when the Spaniard was benched for a 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur.

United coach Louis van Gaal had announced his decision in the wake of two errors committed by de Gea in a recent friendly against Paris Saint Germain, saying the ongoing saga of the keeper's on-off transfer to Real Madrid was affecting him.

"A human being is more than just a footballer and he is not dealing with it (the move to Real Madrid) well," said van Gaal, who handed a debut to new signing Sergio Romero for Saturday's game.