Spain national team manager Vicente del Bosque has revealed that he considered calling Manchester United custodian Victor Valdes to the national team, as a way to help him.

Valdes joined the Red Devils earlier this year and played second fiddle to compatriot David de Gea at the club. He later fell out with manager Louis van Gaal, who accused him of refusing to play for the Under-21 side, thereby jeopardising his future at Manchester United.




The Manchester giants have fielded Sergio Romero in goal this season so far with Valdes and De Gea watching from the stands.

However, unfazed by Valdes’ lack of first team action over the course of the season, Del Bosque has acknowledged that he was close to calling the Catalan to the Spanish national team.
 


"We were on the verge of selecting Victor Valdes, it would have been an ideal time to call him up, in all honesty”, the manager said on the Jugones programme broadcaster by La Sexta.

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“It bothers me slightly that we didn't call him up”, he added.

Explaining his reasoning behind considering an international call-up for the former Barcelona number 1, Del Bosque said that it would have done Valdes a world of good.

"Why wouldn't we call up a guy up who has performed very well with the national team, especially if it would have helped him?

“This is no charity, we need to call up the very best players.

“I'm well aware of this, we have to call up those who are performing the best, but in this particular instance the player needed some support, a bit of a boost from his national team and we've failed to give him that."