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Jose Mourinho has told Real Madrid that David de Gea is going nowhere.

Reigning Spanish and European champions Real are long-term admirers of the Manchester United No 1 and have put him high on their summer wish-list after seeing a deal for the Spanish international collapse on deadline day in August 2015.

But while De Gea has just 18 months left on his Old Trafford contract and United have so far failed to convince him to sign an extension, boss Mourinho insists that he will not be sold.

When asked about the prospect of the 27-year-old moving to the Bernabeu, Mourinho said: “Do you think a club that is trying to attract the best players is a club that is open to lose their best players?

(Image: Dan Mullan)

“It makes no sense. We have to attract the best players like we did with Alexis (Sanchez), (Nemanja) Matic, (Paul) Pogba and so on. So we don’t let our best players go.”

Madrid’s attempt to lure De Gea back to La Liga three years ago would have seen them pay £29million and send Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas to Manchester in part-exchange.

Both clubs pointed the finger of blame at each other when the transfer documentation was not processed in time and De Gea then signed a four-year contract to stay at United.

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Navas has been mentioned as a possible makeweight in a new deal – but that will not tempt United into selling a keeper who is arguably now the best in the world.

De Gea is continuing to stall on a new contract to stay at United because he is reported to want a release clause inserted that would enable him to move to Real.

He joined United from Atletico Madrid for £18.9million in 2011 and won the club’s player of the year in three successive seasons from 2014 onwards.