£100M? De Gea’s only the THIRD best keeper at United!

JOSE RESTS HIS BRILLIANT No.1 AND JOKES HE HAS SLIPPED DOWN THE PECKING ORDER

JOSE MOURINHO brought David De Gea back down to earth by joking he has been demoted to Manchester United’s thirdchoice goalkeeper.

Mourinho hailed De Gea as the best keeper in the world after his remarkable display in the 3-1 win at Arsenal.

The Spaniard, 27, made 14 saves at the Emirates, a Premier League record, confirming his status as arguably the best keeper on the planet right now.

But Mourinho has decided to give De Gea the night off tonight against CSKA Moscow, with United’s progression to the last 16 all but assured.

Sergio Romero will start, Joel Pereira will be on the bench, with Mourinho claiming De Gea – who will be back for Sunday’s Manchester derby – will only be the third-best keeper at United this evening. Asked if he had ever seen a better keeper than De Gea, the Reds boss – with tongue firmly in cheek – said: “Yes, Romero, because he plays against CSKA. My keeper is always the best in the world. “Now David is the third best, Romero is No.1 and Joel is No.2. David is the third best, but he’s very good. All season good.”

United need a point tonight to be confirmed as Group A winners, with Mourinho refusing to allow his players’ minds to wander to Sunday’s potentially title-race defining derby. One player who has emerged as a key man for United in recent weeks is defender Victor Lindelof, who has overcome a difficult start and is starting to show his true worth. The £30million summer signing from Benfica had to wait until November 18 for his first Premier League start, after struggling to adapt to the English game.

The 23-year-old had problems on his first few outing, culminating in errors for both goals when Mourinho’s side lost 2-1 at Huddersfield in October.

But the Sweden star, who has started the last four league games, said he has finally got to grips with what is required of him. “Always, when you come to a new club, you have to learn, and I’m still learning,” said Lindelof. “I speak with the manager and he’s been very good for me. I can learn a lot from him and also the other coaches. “This league is tougher than the Portuguese league and United is one of the biggest clubs in the world – you have more eyes watching you.

“That’s the biggest difference.”