Devils have Mour to lose
> United may lose more than just Fellaini if Jose’s lieutenant does not sign a new contract
Fellaini was jeered onto the pitch at Old Trafford after conceding a late penalty in a draw with Everton the previous weekend.
At that point, his stock could not fall much lower among the club’s support, whose patience had worn thin with a player who was apparently undeserving of the shirt.
That has all changed now and drastically so, with Fellaini attaining cult status after imposing performances and important goals, but Mourinho’s opinion of him has always remained constant.
At the time of the jeering, he described the midfielder as “a player and a person I like,” adding: “He will always have my trust and protection.”
Ever since, he has rarely missed an opportunity to praise the Belgian or highlight his importance to the team.
“I have to say that Fellaini was fantastic,” Mourinho said unprompted after Sunday’s defeat at Chelsea.
The midfielder’s half-hour cameo had hardly changed the course of the game but still, it could not be ignored.
“He put himself on the line ready to come in and help if the team needed him. So really, really pleased. I don’t want to let it go blank, that word with him.”
More recently, the Portuguese has talked of some players in his squad being “untouchable”. We know Romelu Lukaku is one such player but Fellaini is surely another.
Indeed, without Zlatan Ibrahimovic to hand and with a relatively young crop of firstchoice players to marshal, his importance has only grown this season.
He is rapidly becoming one of Mourinho’s famed “lieutenants”.
What happens then if he agrees to leave the club on a free transfer, as he is able to do from January unless renewed terms are agreed?
Fellaini’s departure would not be well received in the manager’s office.
Mourinho’s unprompted admission that he was “worried” about the player’s contract told Old Trafford’s decision makers that much.
This persistent praise of the player at any opportunity has a similar purpose too.
It also cannot be ignored that all of this comes at a time when the United manager is calling the city of Paris “magic” and “special”, with 18 months remaining on his own contract.
The club’s failure to sign all four of his summer transfer targets is back on the agenda too, even though that seemed to matter little when three points were coming more easily.
Even so, if United’s intention is for Mourinho to stay beyond the terms of his current deal, they may need to start by proving to him they can tie down one of his most important players.
Who could have predicted that in just 11 months Marouane Fellaini would go from being jeered onto the field to this? - The Independent