Manchester United's first-choice goalkeeper David De Gea will stay with the club despite the club giving him choice to decide his future, coach Jose Mourinho said on Sunday.
"I can guarantee that he's not going this season -- that I can," Mourinho was quoted saying by the Independent.
The 26-year-old having made 200 appearances for the English Premier League (EPL) giants helped the side secure EPL title, English Football Cup (EFL) and FA Cup once each since 2011.
Mourinho said he believes it is better to keep it up to the players to make their choice rather forcing them to stay.
"He was contacted for a long time, the club was closed, then we open because I always have this feeling of when a player has a desire to go, I don't like to stop players to go because in the end you don't get from them what you expect from them if they want to move and they don't move," the United coach said.
"So we open it and then they decide to close, and I don't think the feeling for him is very good," he added.
De Gea is heavily linked with his birth city-club Real Madrid, the United coach claimed the goalkeeper is happy with Manchester United despite interest from the Champions League title holders.
"I see him really happy and focused and working better than ever, so for me 100 per cent he stays with us, David is much better now than before and he has amazing conditions to impress," Mourinho said.
The Portugese also said he does not see any chance of Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale returning to the EPL this summer.
"It's the same (as Ronaldo). You have contacts, you have feelings. I think it is clear Bale likes Madrid, the challenge, the situation. He is at a club in a very good situation. I never felt a desire from him to leave so why lose time and energy," Mourinho said.
Bale won three Champions League title in four seasons since joining Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.
--IANS
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