Mourinho tells Manchester United star to forget about Real Madrid

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has told David de Gea to forget about fresh speculation linking him the goalkeeper with a move to Real Madrid and focus on helping the club achieve their objectives until the end of the season.

Madrid have earmarked De Gea as a top transfer target in the summer having missed out on his signature two years ago in farcical scenes, although United are ready to play hard ball over their star goalkeeper this time around.

De Gea has travelled with the United squad ahead of their Europa League clash with Anderlecht on Thursday but isn’t expected to start for the second game in a row and Mourinho has told the goalkeeper to re-focus his mind ahead of the season’s conclusion.

“I am not interested in the speculation,” The Daily Telegraph quote Mourinho as saying when asked about De Gea’s future. “If the player is, he shouldn’t [be] because we are playing very important teams and every match for us is crucial.

“In the Premier League, we lose a match and the top four gets almost impossible. In the Europa League, we lose a match and we are in trouble. Every match is one that demands from every one of us total focus.

“I don’t see David having any problems related to this. End of the season is the time when players can be thinking about what is going to happen with their careers but I think that is end of season.”

Sergio Romero is set for start between the sticks for a second game in a row and the improvements he has made since Mourinho was made manager last summer has been a real plus point of his time at the club so far.

The Argentina international has played in seven of United’s 10 Europa League games this far and has kept six clean sheets in that time, only conceding one goal in the process.

For more stats on David de Gea, click here to visit his WhoScored player page