Jose Mourinho wants to axe a minimum of eight players over the next two transfer windows as the constant transition in Manchester United’s squad shows no signs of slowing.
United suffered their fifth defeat in 17 matches under Mourinho last night when they were beaten 2-1 by Fenerbahce in Istanbul to leave the club with an uphill battle to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages.
Mourinho – who has now lost 18 of his past 42 matches as a manager dating back to his time at Chelsea - reacted to his team’s latest set-back by accusing his players of not being “mentally prepared”, “not focused”, “not concentrated” and of treating the game like a pre-season friendly.
United – who are seven points adrift of fourth place in the Premier League - face Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday having won just one of their past seven league games. They have failed to score in their past three league fixtures.
Mourinho believes he has taken on a bigger job at Old Trafford than he originally thought and is ready to make extensive changes to the squad next year. If there is a possibility of doing business in the January transfer window, both in terms of incomings and outgoings, the Portuguese will do so, although the bulk of United’s activity will take place next summer.
Former United midfielder Paul Scholes claimed after the Fenerbahce result that United’s team “in two years will be unrecognisable from what it is now” and Mourinho has plans to reshape a squad that has already undergone extensive overhaul in the past three years. A total of 55 players have come or gone in the seven transfer windows since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in May 2013 and more churn is on the horizon.
Defenders Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian and Phil Jones will be allowed to leave as will midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin and Michael Carrick, who is the only senior player out of contract next summer, discounting striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has the option to extend his one-year deal by another 12 months. Wingers Memphis Depay and Ashley Young are also surplus to requirements
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