Sergio Romero
Premier League United announce Romero signing

Manchester United announced the signing of free-agent goalkeeper Sergio Romero, who last played in Serie A with Sampdoria, to a three-year contract with an option for another year, as he reunites with his former AZ Alkmaar manager Louis van Gaal.



“Sergio Romero is an international goalkeeper from the Argentina team," the manager told the club website. "He was also a former player of mine. I was trainer-coach, manager of AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands, I picked him up when he was 19 and he was a great talent. We became champions with him, with a minor club, and in the Netherlands it was a fantastic result of course. I know him very well and I think in our situation, if De Gea is going or not going, it is always a threat and we have to take care, make sure that we are prepared and that is why I think it is very good that Sergio Romero is now a Manchester United player.”



The 28-year-old keeper led Argentina to the World Cup final last summer, coincidentally beating van Gaal's Netherlands squad in the semifinals on penalty kicks. Romero is set to add depth at the position with the rumoured exits of David De Gea and Victor Valdes.



“He is a goalkeeper and he stops the balls, and that is also his position but he can also build up with his feet and that is, in our profile, very important. But also his stature is very good, he is tall. In the Netherlands he dominates the 60 metre area and I don’t know if he can do that in England, because it is a little bit different, but he is physically strong and he has confidence in himself, which is also very good I believe. He did very well in the World Cup against us [Netherlands] because he stopped the decisive penalties [in the semi-final].”