Victor Valdes
Valdes reportedly impressed Louis van Gaal during his 10 week training spell at Old TraffordReuters

Former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes is reportedly on the verge of joining Manchester United on a free transfer after managing to impress manager Louis van Gaal during his training stint with the club.

The 32-year-old, who spent a lengthy spell on the sidelines following an anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained while playing for Barcelona last March, was allowed training at Old Trafford for a period of ten weeks to regain his fitness.

Van Gaal was reportedly impressed with the Spaniard's efforts in training during that period, and due to this reason the Dutchman is reportedly close to offering him an 18-month contract at Old Trafford, according to ESPN.

Although United's current first choice goalkeeper David De Gea has been in good form, with his performances catching the eye of Spanish giants Real Madrid, the Red Devils will certainly be boosted by the addition of Valdes, who has a lot of experience at the topmost level.

Valdes, who left Barcelona last summer after he refused to sign a new contract at the Camp Nou, was earlier strongly linked with a move to Ligue 1 side AS Monaco, but the move fell through following the Spaniard's injury.

Manchester United's bitter rivals Liverpool had also shown an interest to sign Valdes, with Reds boss Brendan Rodgers keen to sign a new goalkeeper following the poor performances of Simon Mignolet this season, but a move failed to materialise after the Spaniard reportedly refused to undergo a trial at Anfield.

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Meanwhile, Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo has sparked a lot of controversy by uploading an image of the late Colombian drug smuggler Pablo Escobar on his official Instagram page

The 24-year-old Argentine published this picture on Saturday, accompanied with a quote from Escobar that read: "Only those who went hungry with me and stood by me when I went through a bad time at some point in life will eat at my table."

This post brought out a lot of angry reactions from his fans as Escobar, who was the head of the Medellin cartel in the 1980s, was responsible for thousands of deaths in Colombia until he was killed by the police in 1993.

Although the post has already been deleted by Rojo, he is still under fire for supporting a criminal like Escobar.

However, it is believed that the FA, who have charged a number of footballers including Liverpool's Mario Balotelli and Stoke City's Robert Huth for posting inappropriate content on social media of late, are going to let the Argentine off with only a warning.