Lindegaard set for recall at Arsenal

London: Anders Lindegaard will make his first Manchester United appearance in over six months against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium next Saturday if David de Gea fails to recover from a dislocated finger, with former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes yet to be offered a contract at Old Trafford following a serious knee injury.

United are awaiting news on the full extent of De Gea’s injury after being informed on Friday evening that he had dislocated the fifth finger on his right hand during training with Vicente del Bosque’s Spain squad. De Gea was immediately ruled out of Saturday night’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Belarus in Huelva and is also expected to miss Tuesday’s friendly against Germany, but United are hopeful that the injury will respond to treatment and not lead to the four-week lay-off that has been suggested as a worst-case scenario.

If De Gea misses the trip to Arsenal, Danish keeper Lindegaard is set to act as understudy — seven months after his last outing against Newcastle last April — due to ongoing fitness concerns over Valdes.

Valdes, who is a free agent after leaving Barcelona in the summer, has spent the last month undergoing rehabilitation at United after suffering a serious knee injury while playing for Barca in March. The 32-year-old could be registered by United in time for the trip to the Emirates should the club secure permission from the Premier League board to add the Spaniard to their league squad.

Despite Valdes tweeting this week that he is ‘almost ready’ to return to action after beginning to train at United, it is understood that he is still some distance from being fit to play at a competitive level. Liverpool had been keen to sign Valdes as cover for Simon Mignolet last month before he accepted Louis van Gaal’s invitation to train at United.

No decision has yet been made by United over the possibility of a longer term arrangement with Valdes, so Van Gaal is expected to favour Lindegaard over current third-choice goalkeeper Ben Amos at Arsenal if De Gea is ruled out by his injury.