The England goalkeeper will reserve his place for the meeting at the Etihad Stadium, with De Gea allowed to travel to Spain
Dean Henderson will start in the Manchester derby as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that David de Gea will be given “just as much time” after the birth of his first child.
De Gea missed the game against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night after being asked to fly back to Spain to join his partner Edurne for the birth of the couple’s child, Yanay.
The Spaniard will stay with family at the moment, with Henderson set to make his fourth league appearance of the season as United look to stop City ‘s impressive 21-game run.
What was said?
Solskjaer gave an update on what De Gea has to offer on Friday, telling reporters: “It ‘s a special day for David. When you become a father that may be the feeling. the best you can be.
“I’ll give him the time he needs before he comes back, he asked to go home and in the old world that’s the day and you come back and you’re ready again.
“But now we are in a pandemic and quarantine [requirements] of course it’s a different world but still, we felt it was right. David wanted to be there and support his girlfriend and there was not even a decision to be made. Dean came in and played well and he’s ready, so I’ll give David the time he needs. “
When does Man Utd expect De Gea to return?
Solskjaer would not schedule a return date for De Gea and the custodian must abide by the government’s Covid-19 restrictions. Passengers arriving from countries not on the red list require quarantine for 10 days. This can be cut to five if the person has a Covid private test after five days of quarantine and returns a negative test. It is understood that De Gea is not quarantine free as he did not travel for elite sports purposes.
Norway added: “As soon as David returns we must follow the rules. I expect it to be available very soon, not too far from here.
“We allowed him to go back because he wanted to be there with his girlfriend. We want our players to be back as soon as possible but there is a human being that we need to look after and David was there for this wonderful day for him and his sweetheart and their family.
“I don’t know when he’ll be back, it won’t be long but Dean did well against Palace and I’m sure he’s looking forward to the City game as well. He’s had that experience already this season in the Carabao Cup so that will stand him in good stead. “