Jose ‘guarantees’ De Gea is staying
GOALKEEPER: IN 2015 HE CAME CLOSE TO JOINING REAL
United boss also rules out signing winger Gareth Bale.
Santa Clara
Jose Mourinho has given a “guarantee” that David de Gea will stay at Manchester United this season, despite the long-running saga over a potential move to Real Madrid.
Transfer speculation over De Gea returning to Real has stretched on for the last two years, ever since the goalkeeper was a whisker away from heading to the Bernabeu two years ago.
But Mourinho has delivered an unequivocal message about the 26-year-old’s future.
Mourinho implied that there were negotiations with Real which fell through last summer, yet he believes the prospect of returning to La Liga has now become less appealing for the Spanish international.
“I can guarantee he’s not going this season. My feeling is that it will be very difficult for him to go,” said Mourinho.
Prior to the £75 million signing of Romelu Lukaku, United had been keen to do business with Real after pursuing now Chelsea frontman Alvaro Morata.
But Mourinho has confirmed that Real’s former Tottenham winger Gareth Bale was never a realistic target.
He said: “You have contacts, you have feelings. It was clear that Bale likes Madrid, likes the situation and is in a club with a very good situation now.
But while Mourinho is content with the make-up of his current options, he faces going into the new season without the injured trio of Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo.
The three have been recuperating with United’s squad in California, yet Shaw is ruled out until September, Young until October and Rojo until December.
“No chance that any of them are fit for the beginning of the Premier League,” said Mourinho.
“But it’s good to have them, good for them to be with us and recover with the group.”
Their absence does open the door for the young hopefuls at United. The likes of Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Andreas Pereira and Axel Tuanzebe are all due to feature against Real in Santa Clara, with Mourinho keen to rest several key figures after Thursday’s 2-0 win over Manchester City.
“I’m going to play other players and give a rest to some,” added Mourinho. –