Duncan Castles, a close confidente of Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, has stated that David de Gea is still waiting for a new Old Trafford contract offer but has hinted that Real Madrid might be more interested in a move for Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois.

What's the story?

Castles has issued an update on the goalkeeping situation at Real Madrid to Arab News, explaining that Keylor Navas is still not in favour at the club and that two Premier League targets are still on their radar.

Those men are Courtois and De Gea. Castles says that both are looking at new contracts with their respective clubs but are at different stages of their negotiation.

Courtois has been offered a new £200,000 per week contract at Stamford Bridge, but is stalling on signing it, which indicates that he may well be the more unsettled of the pair.

De Gea is further behind in his negotations - which may worry some United fans - but the indications are that the Spaniard just wants to have his wages upped to reflect his importance to the club. Mourinho has stated his desire to keep the player.

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United have to match De Gea's demands

The signs are that a move for Courtois looks more likely than a Real swoop for De Gea and that is undoubtedly good news for United.

The longer Courtois stalls over a new contract at Stamford Bridge, the more likely it becomes that Chelsea will look to sell him for the 100 million euros they reportedly want for him.

He is playing for a side that is further down the league and may miss out on next season's Champions League and Madrid may choose to capitalise on that.

However, that doesn't mean that United can get complacent with regards the future of De Gea - whom Transfermarkt value at £45m - because he is more important to them than any other player.

That includes Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba, or whichever United player you could care to name. De Gea has saved more points at Old Trafford than any attacker has earned over the course of his time at the club and losing him would be an absolute hammer-blow to their hopes of making up ground on Manchester City next season.

United have splashed the cash on players in fashionable positions ever since Alex Ferguson retired but while goalkeepers may still avoid the headlines, they have to tie down De Gea, whatever the price.