Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea will start in goal for the Red Devils in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea.

De Gea played in the semi-final win over Tottenham Hotspur but Sergio Romero had previously featured throughout United’s cup run.

The Argentina goalkeeper also played against Watford in United’s last Premier League game of the season, sparking speculation he could get the nod at Wembley Stadium.

Mourinho, though, confirmed De Gea will wear the gloves as United bid to collect their first trophy of the season.

‘Yeah, De Gea plays,’ Mourinho told reporters on Friday. ‘He [Romero] was injured for a long, long time – around two-and-something months.

‘He didn’t play some matches that normally would be his matches, the semi-final against Tottenham, a couple more matches before the final. He trained only one week before the Watford match, and a little bit more before.

‘And that’s the reason. It’s not about trust, it’s not about my confidence in him, because you could have felt [trust and confidence] last season when the Europa League final was a much more important match than this one.

‘Because the Europa League was giving us the possibility to play Champions League and that is the first objective of any top-six club – to finish [in the] top four – and because we didn’t, it was to win the Europa League.

‘And I played the Europa League final with Sergio, so it’s not about confidence or no confidence, it’s about the process of the last couple of months since he had an important injury against Spain.’

De Gea claimed his first Premier League Golden Glove after another stellar campaign, while he also collected United’s Player of the Year gong for a record fourth time.