• Premier League

De Gea will stay at Manchester United, says Mendes

David De Gea is staying at Manchester United, according to his agent, who stopped short of saying whether the 24-year-old would sign a new contract.

United's current Player of the Year is out of contract in 2016 and is the subject of reported interest from Real Madrid.

The former Premier League champions are thought to be keen to keep goalkeeper De Gea for the long term, but there is no sign of resolution to contract talks.

As it stands, he could leave Old Trafford on a free transfer at the end of next season but Jorges Mendes told the BBC: "He has one year left on his contract and I think that he will stay in Manchester. The player will decide, but he's happy there, at the moment."

De Gea has been a stand-out performer in United's often flimsy defence and centre-back Jonny Evans admitted it has taken time to adjust to new manager Louis van Gaal's new style of play.

Van Gaal was appointed manager last summer and tasked with returning United to the Champions League after a woeful season under former coach David Moyes. The Dutchman has come under fire for his new-look 3-5-2 formation, but Evans said his team-mates were starting to understand the system.

"The lads have taken a lot on board," Evans told the Guardian. "At times it has been tough and it takes time. We've been used to playing a certain way for a number of years then the change [of manager] happens and he wants us to play a certain way. So it does take time for those things to become second nature. But you are starting to see that now.

"The fact that the formation has changed a lot has taught the lads an awful lot. Coming into games, if we do have any changes in formation I think it is a big plus for us to have. The fact we are using different formations against different teams can only benefit us in the long run."

United have found themselves criticised for not being entertaining enough despite an attacking line-up that includes the likes of Wayne Rooney, Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie, but Evans insisted it was a case of getting the basics right.

"When you get as many attacking players on the pitch as we've got you are always going to entertain," he added. But the manager has done a lot of work in trying to steady the team and making sure everyone knows their jobs. Once we get that nailed on, and everyone knows their defensive jobs, then I think we'll be able to push on from that and be really entertaining again."

David De Gea his been in impressive form between the posts for Manchester United © Getty Images

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