London: Manchester United have insisted David de Gea has not asked to leave Old Trafford despite the club facing another battle of wills with Real Madrid over the Spain goalkeeper.

Real have identified De Gea as a leading transfer target this summer and are confident they can entice the Madrid-born goalkeeper two years after their bid to sign him collapsed in acrimony on transfer deadline day.

Marca, the Madrid-based sports newspaper and Real mouthpiece, claimed yesterday that De Gea had already agreed personal terms with the club and had informed United of his willingness to move to the Bernabeu this summer.

Senior sources both at Old Trafford and close to De Gea told The Telegraph that the goalkeeper had not asked to leave.

But while United say De Gea is not for sale, Mourinho is understood to be exploring other goalkeeping options in the event his hand is forced.

Real would have to pay between pounds £50 million and £60 million (Dh237.2 million and Dh284.7 million) to stand any chance of signing De Gea, but if he was to leave, it seems inconceivable that Mourinho would not use the situation to strengthen his prospects of signing Real striker Alvaro Morata.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic likely to be out for the rest of the year with cruciate knee ligament damage and uncertain to play for United again, Mourinho has admitted his transfer plans have been changed and wants another striker in addition to long-standing target Antoine Griezmann, of Atletico Madrid.

Although United are leading the chase for Burnley defender Michael Keane, Mourinho is also a keen admirer of France centre-half, Raphael Varane, whom he managed at Real.

Gary Neville, the former United defender, believes De Gea would be hard to replace. “If United were to lose De Gea, it would be a big problem,” he said. “It would not be easy to replace him. He’s right at the top level now. United have got to sort that issue out.”

United will be without eight senior players for tomorrow’s visit of Swansea City to Old Trafford, which prompted Mourinho to joke that he may be forced to play himself at centre-half.

But Mourinho believes the club’s gruelling schedule and mounting personnel problems could be a “blessing” in terms of toughening up the squad. United will be without Marouane Fellaini for the next three Premier League matches after his red card for headbutting Sergio Aguero in Thursday’s goalless draw away to Manchester City.

In an added blow, Timothy Fosu-Mensah will be out for the rest of the season after suffering a suspected dislocated shoulder against City at a time when United are already without Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones because of injury.

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2017