Van Gaal: Mourinho has not called me and I will not call him

Louis van Gaal admits he has had no calls from Jose Mourinho as Manchester United’s horror season took another turn for the worse on Saturday.

United suffered a 2-1 defeat against relegation-threatened Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, passing up a priceless opportunity to close in on the top four as Manchester City face Tottenham and Arsenal play league leaders Leicester City on Sunday.

The United hierarchy remain tight-lipped on Van Gaal’s future as Champions League qualification looks further away than ever, while rumours of contact between the club and former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho continue to build.

Van Gaal worked with Mourinho during his time at Barcelona and said, despite his relationship with him, he had received no contact from the Portuguese manager about any talks between Mourinho and the club and said he would not contact him to find out if the rumours are true.

“I wouldn’t expect Jose Mourinho to call me about that. No. In the football world that doesn’t happen. Nor will I ring him,” said Van Gaal.

“If I did, then you think the stories are right and it is not like that. I am not thinking like that.”

Van Gaal said before the Sunderland game that he would expect United to inform him if they were talking to other managers, such was his relationship with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, but admitted football is not always such an honest game.

“In the past, I was chairman of the coaches federation in the Netherlands and we had a rule that you can never talk with a club without informing the present manager,” he said.

“But in football it’s not usual that you speak with other managers like that.

“It wasn’t a good rule, no!

“Sometimes it has been broken by people and by managers. It is always like that. It is not always an honest world.”