Mourinho’s keen to keep quartet

JOSE Mourinho wants to keep Luke Shaw, Ashley Young, Ander Herrera and Juan Mata, who are all approaching the end of their United contracts.

The Reds triggered the one-year extensions in the quartet’s deals last season to tie them to the club until next summer, but all are free to negotiate with other clubs in the January transfer window unless they have agreed a renewal.

Shaw, 23, has started the season superbly and ousted Young, 33, from the first-team after the veteran hogged the left-back role last term.

Mata has started two of United’s four games this season while Herrera’s only appearance was as an auxiliary centre-half in the 3-0 humbling by Tottenham.

Herrera received the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award in Mourinho’s first campaign and Mourinho notified Shaw while he was on holiday in early June to that he planned to keep him, despite interest in Juventus full-back Alex Sandro.

Young, who was a regular for England at the World Cup, joined United in 2011 while Mata arrived in January 2014 for a then-club record £37.1m fee.

Mourinho forgot to mention Young by name, but compared the four players’ situations with Marouane Fellaini’s last term. The Belgian agreed new terms days before his deal ended and the Reds boss insisted he is also calm about David de Gea’s future.

De Gea has entered the last year of his contract, but the club have the option of an additional year.

“I hope they will stay,” Mourinho said of Shaw, Young, Herrera and Mata. “We had a similar conversation last season about Marouane and I was always saying I hope he stays, I believe he stays.

“I say the same. I hope they stay. Of course, I am happy with the players. David is David, no need of more words. Luke’s evolution made us believe he goes in the right direction and, of course, I want to keep him.

“Juan and Ander, even if they are not playing or not playing a lot, not starting matches, by the personality point-of-view and character point-of-view, by what they represent in the modern society in football, they are almost unique pieces that I also don’t want to lose.”