Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will not target Gareth Bale this summer: 'I never felt a desire from him to leave, so why lose time and energy on that?'

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Jose Mourinho has ruled out a move for Gareth Bale and insists the Wales star is happy at Real Madrid.

United have been linked with a £100million bid for Bale amid reports that Madrid may be prepared to sell him to fund a move for Monaco's Kylian Mbappe.

Having last week described signing Bale's team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo as 'mission impossible', Mourinho admitted that it was a similar situation with the former Tottenham winger who left White Hart Lane for the Bernabeu in a then world-record £86m deal in 2013.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has ruled out a move for Gareth Bale

Mourinho said Bale is happy at Real Madrid and that he sees no point in trying to sign him

'Yes, it's the same,' said the ex-Madrid boss ahead of United's pre-season game against the back-to-back European champions in Santa Clara on Sunday.

'You have contacts, you have feelings, you understand things. I think it was clear that Bale likes Madrid, the challenge, the situation.

'He's in a club in a very good situation now. I never felt a desire from him to leave, so why lose time and energy on that?'

United will continue to pursue Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic as the Italian club hold out for a fee of £48m. Perisic is on tour with Milan in China but desperately wants to move to Old Trafford.

Mourinho also needs a defensive midfielder and has been strongly linked with Chelsea's Nemanja Matic, Eric Dier of Tottenham and Roma's Radja Nainggolan.

But he re-iterated that he may have to be satisfied with one more summer signing after United chief Ed Woodward brought in Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof.

United have been linked with a £100million bid for Bale during the summer transfer window

'Names is difficult for me because the players belong to clubs,' said Mourinho. 'The players are in their seasons. The managers, the owners are not happy if you speak about them, the same as me.

'If somebody says I want to buy a player from Man United, I would ask 'hey, I'm here, so be careful what you say'.

'I don't hide my plan from the team because in the transfer window last December I didn't use that and I told them my plan was to get four players and give balance to the team to make a better squad.

'But I was getting the feedback from Mr Woodward, I was analysing myself from a distance because I never got involved, but I repeat the same: the market is very difficult and if the club has no chance to give me the four players then so be it.

'I like my group and players, and I go with them. But I still have the hope I can have a third player, maybe a fourth.'

United will continue to pursue Ivan Perisic of Inter Milan but his club are after £48m

Mourinho also gave an update on his injured players and confirmed that Luke Shaw could be back in September after damaging ligaments in his foot.

Ashley Young is expected to be fit again in October and Marcos Rojo will be available in December or January when he recovers from a ruptured cruciate ligament.

'They have no chance for the beginning of the Premier League,' said Mourinho. 'Shaw is the first, Marcos the last one and Ashley in between.

'But it's good to have them. It's good to be with us (on tour), to recover with the group. The group is really strong and really together.'