New Real Madrid boss Benitez discusses signing Manchester United and Liverpool stars De Gea and Sterling

Real Madrid new manager Rafael Benitez has been coy about the potential signings of Manchester United keeper David de Gea and Liverpool wantaway Raheem Sterling, although he has expressed his "admiration" for the Anfield starlet.

The former Liverpool and Chelsea boss was unveiled as Real's new boss on Wednesday (3 May) just days after confirming his intention to end his spell at Napoli.

While the La Liga giants are expected to sign De Gea to replace Iker Casillas as their new number one next season, recent reports claimed that Benitez had also asked president Florentino Perez to pursue the signing of Sterling after the players' agent revealed his intention to move.

Benitez was key to persuading the player to move to Anfield in February 2010 during his last season on Mersyeside, after agreeing to pay an initial fee of £500,000 to QPR to secure his services for the academy even though he was only 15.

The Spanish manager refused to elaborate on his summer transfer plans during his presentation at the Santiago Bernabeu, but when asked about the 20-year-old England international, he replied: "We admire Raheem, that's no secret.

"But he is not one of our players so I can't really comment on him."

Marca reported on Wednesday that the Benitez has already given Perez his blessing to go ahead with the negotiations to bring De Gea to the Bernabeu.

But when questioned about that and whether he is ready to relegate Casillas to the bench or even part ways with him, Benitez said: "I like the way you have tried to sneak that question under the radar, but we will evaluate everything in time. We will not name names today.

"We need to thoroughly analyse the performance we can can get from this squad and then discuss what things we can do for the future.

"My plan is to enjoy having a great team and today I am not going to focus on individual aspects. There is a great squad and I will try to enjoy it. Today is not the day to talk about that [Casillas's potential exit]."

Meanwhile, Benitez has promised to play attractive football to fight for all the possible titles, as he is going to manage the best squad he has ever coached.

"This team have to compete, play good football and win. We can discuss a lot of options in terms of the system, but it's clear that with such a talented team, we have to attack and score goals", he admitted.

"This is without doubt the most talented squad I've had at my disposal throughout my career. I like Real Madrid teams to play well and win. I hope ours will be like that."