Last Updated: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:13
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is said to be the driving force behind a rumoured £20million summer bid for United keeper David de Gea.
The Spanish giants will attempt to prise the 22-year-old former Atletico Madrid star away, according to reports today, after Mourinho fell out with his number one Iker Casillas.
Casillas was dropped for Real's last league game against Malaga and has not been given any reason by the coach over why he was demoted to the bench.
De Gea is seen as Casillas' long-term successor in the Spanish national team shirt, but at 31, the Real captain has many years ahead of him and may have better prospects of surviving a summer Bernabeu shake-up than Mourinho - who has fewer supporters in the stands and the media.
De Gea, signed for £18.9m 18 months ago, will get a chance to audition for the job when Real Madrid face United over two legs in the Champions League next year, but there are no signs that Sir Alex Ferguson has lost patience with him and would sanction his sale.
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