Louis Van Gaal reveals two star players will miss Spurs opener

Louis Van Gaal has confirmed that starting keeper David De Gea and newly-signed midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will not be in Manchester United's side as they prepare to take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League opening match week on Saturday.

Van Gaal all but confirmed in a recent press conference that De Gea's head is turned by the constant transfer speculation linking him to Real Madrid, and as such he has dropped him from the squad since he is not in the correct frame of mind.

"We have problems of course with De Gea.

"He shall not play. A player is also a human being more than a player and he cannot manage that. You have to wait and see who is starting."

United have Anders Lindergaard, Victor Valdes, new signing Sergio Romero, and Sam Johnstone as backup keepers and who could step in. Lindegaard and Valdes are reportedly out of favor with Van Gaal -- Valdes for apparently refusing to train with the reserve squad -- which means that new signing Romero or the 22-year old Johnstone could line up between the sticks for United tomorrow.

This is obviously great news if you're a Tottenham fan, as potentially replacing one of the best keepers in the world with an untested 22-year old who was on loan at Preston North End last season would be pretty neat. However, I'd expect that Romero is by far the more likely of the two to get the nod.

Meanwhile, newly-signed German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and defender Marcos Rojo are also out of the squad due to fitness concerns. Michael Carrick is likely to slot back in midfield for the Red Devils against Spurs.

On the Spurs side, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and midfielder Ryan Mason are late fitness tests ahead of Saturday's match. Hugo made a late sub appearance against AC Milan in the Audi Cup on Wednesday, but if he cannot go, expect Michel Vorm to get the start. Andros Townsend and Alex Pritchard are still recovering from injury and are unlikely to feature.