Sergio Romero has revealed he is glad David De Gea is not leaving Manchester United — even though the Spanish star is keeping him on the bench, writes Steve Bates in Washington, DC .

Old Trafford number one De Gea has been a long-standing target for hometown club Real Madrid, but so far the Red Devils have resisted all advances and slapped a £70million price tag on the 26-year-old.

That’s fine by back-up Romero , who reckons working alongside De Gea at training every day has turned him into the best goalkeeper he’s ever been.

“It’s better for the club that there is this competition there between me and David,” says the Argentina international.

Anything you can do... De Gea watches Romero stretch for a save in training this week (
Image:
Man Utd via Getty)
The Spain international has been a Real Madrid target again but United aren't selling (
Image:
Man Utd via Getty)

“And the truth is that there exists a great friendship between us, we work hard in order help each other out.

“It’s very important that we work in this way so we can get the most out of each other. If he puts pressure on me, I put pressure on him and it’s the same with young Joel Pereira who is working with us.

“So yes, it’s good for me if he stays at United. He is a friend and we will keep working hard to help each other out in training. If he does well then I do well, so in that way, the level of performance will always be high.”

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Jose Mourinho believes Romero is the perfect number two to De Gea, and he showed his faith in the Argentinian by playing him in most of United’s Europa League games last season — including the victory over Ajax in the final.

But Romero, who signed a new four-year deal during this US tour, isn’t sure how much game time he’ll get this season.

“I don’t know what is going to happen," said the 30-year-old. "We will get to know before each match who is going to start as normal, but we will work hard and the minutes that I get, I will try to take advantage of them.

Mourinho rewarded Romero's Europa League efforts by sticking with him for the final (
Image:
Getty)

“I am thankful for the confidence that the manager has given me and last year he had a lot of faith in me and the results showed that.

“We won the Europa League and I didn’t concede many goals. It’s a situation I look at with calmness and this year I hope to have the same confidence levels so I can respond in the same way.”