- The United star left more than a year ago after a successful career at the club
- Littler asked for the player to return in place of a member of the current roster.
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Luke Littler has called for a former Manchester United star to return to the club in a now-deleted Instagram post following a man’s error against Viktoria Plzen.
United went late in their Europa League clash on Thursday night, but a brace from Rasmus Hojlund saved a point for Ruben Amorim’s side, who claimed their first European away win since March last year.
It was difficult to make progress in the first half of what was a drab game, and they fell behind thanks to a goal from former Burnley and Derby player Matej Vydra.
But Hojlund scored after good work from Amad Diallo to settle things and then slotted in a pass from Bruno Fernandes to leave United well prepared to progress to the next round.
However, it was not easy and questions were again raised around goalkeeper Andre Onana when his pass was intercepted for the opener just days after he had fouled Morgan Gibbs-White’s effort against Nottingham Forest.
And Littler, who is preparing to play in the World Darts Championship, had seen enough when he took to social media to call for David De Gea to return to the club.
Luke Littler (pictured) has pleaded for a former Manchester United star to return to the club
He took to Instagram in a now-deleted post to call for David De Gea’s return to goal.
De Gea plays for Fiorentina in Italy after spending a year as a free agent after United
“Bring back Dave,” Littler, an avid United fan, posted as he sat in front of his TV to watch the game, accompanied by a glove emoji.
However, he quickly deleted the post and replaced it with a video of Hojlund scoring the winning goal and the caption: “Wohoooooo.”
De Gea left United last year after spending 12 seasons in Manchester before leaving at the end of his contract.
Former coach Erik ten Hag left him out despite winning the Gold Glove in his final season.
The Spaniard was replaced by Onana and spent a year out of the game as a free agent before joining Fiorentina in the summer.
While he is enjoying life in Italy, questions remain over his replacement, who gave the ball to Pavel Sulc to feed Vydra in Thursday’s opener.
He was trying to pass to Matthijs De Ligt, who was on his heels and the striker arrived first.
Owen Hargreaves said on TNT Sports after the goal match: “It’s both their faults. He (De Ligt) doesn’t want to, he goes back, Onana gives the ball away and it doesn’t go into his goal. But Amorim wants De Ligt to be there, it’s difficult for the center.”
He left the Old Trafford club after 12 years in 2023, after being sent off by Erik ten Hag.
André Onana was his substitute, but he made another mistake that ended in a goal on Thursday.
Littler prepares to play in the World Championship, which begins Sunday
Meanwhile, United captain Bruno Fernandes said of his goalkeeper: “We want to play from the back and everyone knows we have to make the right decisions.”
‘It’s not about Andre making the mistake, we don’t look at individuals. It’s for all the players involved. We fully believe in Andre: he’s a smart guy, so we don’t need to tell him and he’ll help us from behind.
‘It’s something we’ve been doing for a long time. The goalkeepers are good with the ball and can make the triangle, it worked many times but not today.
“We trust that he will continue to do the things he believes are best.”
