Manchester United are on the brink of signing former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes on a free transfer.
Valdes,
32, has impressed manager Louis van Gaal enough in a 10-week spell
training with United to earn an 18-month contract at Old Trafford.
He will provide cover for United's first-choice goalkeeper David de
Gea, who has been ever-present this season, even if his arrival may
prompt speculation that Real Madrid will move for the 23-year-old.
Valdes
moved to England in October when Van Gaal gave him the chance to
continue his rehabilitation from a cruciate ligament injury at
Carrington.
He was invited with a view to becoming a signing,
assuming he could prove his form and fitness, and has now satisfied Van
Gaal, who first managed him at Barcelona.
Valdes had already announced his intention to leave the Camp Nou when
his contract expired. He made 535 appearances for Barcelona, winning La
Liga six times and the Champions League three times.
He will
become Van Gaal's seventh signing, after Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw,
Marcos Rojo, Angel Di Maria, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao, and his
first of the January transfer window.
His move could also bring an end to the Old Trafford career of Anders Lindegaard, who has been De Gea's deputy.
