United boss ready to cut fringe players
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Jose Mourinho will allow any unhappy fringe player to leave Manchester United in the January transfer window, which will spark speculation over the futures of the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Mourinho adopted the same policy in the last winter transfer window when he agreed to requests from Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay to leave the club to pursue regular first-team football elsewhere.
Now Mkhitaryan and teammates including former England full-back Luke Shaw and Matteo Darmian, who have been out of the first-team squad for long periods this season, would be allowed to leave should they wish – and should satisfactory offers be made.
“I think for the right price,” said Mourinho, when asked if he would listen to offers in such circumstances. That’s my approach as a manager, in cases where the club advises me. I think every player has a price.
“If a player is not happy, if a player brings with him the request with the number that we consider a good number for us – like it happened for us last season with Memphis and Morgan – I would never say no.”
The case of Mkhitaryan has been curious after the Armenian midfielder put in a strong second half to last season and appeared a key player in Mourinho’s side.
But his form has progressively dipped this season and he has not started for Mourinho since United’s defeat at Chelsea at the start of November, finding it increasingly difficult to land a place even on the bench. — AFP