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Here’s a bit of useless, baseless speculation for all you United fans out there: Sir Alex Ferguson missed his side’s League Cup tie not to scout Champions League opponents Valencia, but Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea.

Honestly, I wonder how some papers come up with stuff like this. Would Ferguson, who has only ever missed TWO other Manchester United games in his 24-year career as their manager, take leave from a knockout competition to scout a 19-year-old goalkeeper he could watch on the telly?

DAVID DE GEA: The 19-year-old goalkeeping prodigy that Fergie purportedly missed United's Carling Cup tie to spy on.

DAVID DE GEA: The 19-year-old goalkeeping prodigy that Fergie purportedly missed United's Carling Cup tie to spy on.

Remember peeps, this is the same manager who dished out 7 million pounds on the completely unknown Bebe without having even seen a DVD of the dude. De Gea is Athletico Madrid’s first-choice keeper AND a Spain U-21 international who almost made it into the triumphant senior World Cup squad last summer.

Would Fergie really go through all that trouble, risk the inevitable media backlash about showing disrespect to the League Cup, just to have a closer look at ONE already pretty well-known prospect? He probably knows enough about the youngster already. His scouts probably already know what size rims he wants on the company sports car they’ll give him if he signs.

Plus, the game against Scunthorpe, which finished 5-2 in favour of United, was also a chance for him to watch his own young charges play. It was Bebe’s competitive debut after all.

But having said that, I still wish the speculation was true, like maybe Fergie was killing two birds with one stone or something, cos De Gea guy looks pretty darn good! At least on YouTube… Check it out:

He’s tall, about 6 ft 3 1/2, and very much in the lanky Edwin van der Sar mould. He’s calm, confident and most importantly, looks to be a world-class shot-stopper.

He looks a bit on the skinny side, though, and that could be a problem when dealing with crosses in the Premier League. But hey, he’s only 19. Lots of time to stuff himself with pies and chips when he gets to England 😉

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