Trusts Manchester United over Mourinho rumours

Louis van Gaal will be disappointed if Manchester United have been talking to Jose Mourinho behind his back but insists he trusts the club's board.

Former Chelsea manager Mourinho has been repeatedly linked to the United post held by his old mentor Alex Ferguson, with Van Gaal's style of football rarely inspiring the Old Trafford faithful this term.

United lie fifth in the Premier League table, six points shy of local rivals Manchester City in the race for the final Champions League qualification place.

Van Gaal lambasted media stories over an apparently uncertain future as "invented" at his Friday media conference before their Premier League match against Sunderland, and went on to speak positively of his relationship with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and United owners, the Glazer family.

The Dutchman said: "Then [if United are sounding out replacements], I shall be disappointed, because that is the consequence of what I have said [that he trusts the board].

"In a football world that is possible, I know, but I do not think that [it is].

"I have a relationship with Ed Woodward and the Glazers and they shall tell me, I think.

“But I don’t think that I have to ask them [their plans], no."

In an interview with the Independent earlier this week, Van Gaal said he "cannot imagine" that Woodward and Mourinho would have held negotiations.