Mourinho 'in the dark' over Pogba's future

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is "in the dark" over Paul Pogba's future but said the midfielder had never asked him to leave the club.

Pogba, 25, has been linked with an exit from Old Trafford – with LaLiga giants Barcelona reportedly interested – after just two full seasons with United following his move from Juventus.

Mourinho said he had no reason to believe Pogba wanted to leave United, indicating to him that the France international was keen to stay.

"If I watch Mr Raiola [Pogba's agent Mino Raiola] on the screen saying the player wants to leave, and that he is organising a way for him to try to leave or so on, then I will believe [it]," he told UK newspapers.

"At this moment, I am in the dark. The only thing that is clear for me is that the player never - never in all these days we are together - never told me that he wants to leave.

"If he doesn't tell me he wants to leave, it's because he wants to stay. That's my conclusion, no?"

While he is unsure about Pogba's future, Mourinho wants to keep the likes of David de Gea, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw, who are all out of contract at the end of the season.

"David is David, no need of more words. Luke's evolution made us believe he goes in the right direction and, of course, I want to keep him," he said.

"Juan and Ander, even if they are not playing or not playing a lot, not starting matches, by the personality point-of-view and character point-of-view, by what they represent in the modern society in football, they are almost unique pieces that I also don't want to lose."