Manchester United have rediscovered much of their old swagger under Jose Mourinho and look like a threat once again. While new signings like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly and even Paul Pogba have all settled in wonderfully, there are some players in the United squad who have been frozen out methodically by the ‘special one’.
Some of these players were key players in the Van Gaal and David Moyes era, while some of them according to Mourinho are over their prime and just don’t fit into his ethos and style of play at the theatre of dreams.
Whatever the reason, these 5 stars look like they have no future at Manchester United:
#5 Bastian Schweinsteiger
Bastian Schweinsteiger has won almost every major trophy in world football including a historic World Cup triumph in 2014. One of the best central midfielders of our generation, Schweinsteiger has struggled for form and fitness ever since he made a much hyped about move to Old Trafford.
This season, the legendary german has made only 3 appearances and although he was recently included in the Europa League squad, it is widely accepted that Schweinsteiger will make a move away from United in the summer.
Also read: Liam’s Corner: Arsenal need Welbeck; Klopp’s embarrassment and Mourinho’s squad depth
When asked on Schweinsteiger’s chances of playing more this season, the Portuguese manager answered in his inimitable fashion:
“We have a decision completely made about Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Morgan Schneiderlin, Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick. We have five players for two positions. It’s very difficult that an opportunity will arrive.”
Although according to reports the German has been a model professional, it is all but certain, that Schweinsteiger will be leaving Manchester United in the summer. Here is a look at Schweinsteiger’s top 5 goals in the Bundesliga:
#4 Matteo Darmian
27-year-old Matteo Darmian has seen his stock fall rapidly under Jose Mourinho, While Darmian was impressive in bits and pieces for Manchester United in his first season, the Italian was used more as a left-back by Van Gaal.
With Antonio Valencia putting in consistent performances at right back and Daley Blind and Luke Shaw covering the left-back position, Darmian has found opportunities hard to come by.
Also read: Matteo Darmian linked with a move to Inter Milan after fiancee goes house hunting
Also, there were reports doing the rounds that Inter Milan were interested in signing the Italian and a move to the Italian giants could help Darmian in the long run. With the 2018 World Cup approaching, it is important that Darmian keeps playing frequently at the club level to feature in the plans of his international manager Ventura for the approaching competitions.
It only looks like a matter of time before Darmian leaves Old Trafford in search of regular playing time. Here are some of Darmian’s best moments in a Manchester United jersey:
#3 Michael Carrick
The 35-year-old midfielder has been in fine form this season, but with his contract ending and no sign of an extension, Carrick’s long journey at Manchester United looks like it is coming to an end.
The deep-lying central midfielder might not have the pace, physical attributes or tackling skills of a typical ball winning midfielder, but his brilliant positional awareness and his reading of the game has seen him play a crucial role in Manchester United’s successes in the previous decade.
Also read: Michael Carrick set for shock move to Premier League rivals Arsenal
This season as well, the Englishman has controlled games with his usual passing skills and composure on the ball, but at 35, Mourinho is reluctant to offer him a new deal. Speaking about Carrick, Mourinho said:
“Let’s be honest. I have seen many positives in Carrick. But I cannot go to his identity card and delete five years. Michael is not 30.”
With a contract extension looking unlikely, Carrick’s long and trophy-laden spell at Manchester United could be coming to an end in the summer.
#2 Wayne Rooney
Manchester United’s record goalscorer, Wayne Rooney has found a starting berth incredibly hard to come by in the recent few matches. The Englishman found himself as Manchester United’s main man after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure in 2009. However, his star has been on the wane for the last two seasons.
The Red Devils are no longer dependent on Wayne Rooney and it can be seen from the fact that the Liverpool-born forward has started only 8 times in the season with most of his appearances coming in the beginning of the season.
Also read: Jose Mourinho ready to let Wayne Rooney leave for China
With Manchester United favourites to sign Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann in the summer, multiple reports have emerged that Jose Mourinho is ready to sanction the sale of their club captain and a big money move to China could be on the cards in the summer transfer window.
Whether Rooney stays or not, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest Manchester United players of all time:
#1 Anthony Martial
Louis van Gaal’s golden boy, Anthony Martial set the Premier League on fire last season, but this season he has found the going much tougher under Jose Mourinho. A regular feature at the start of the season, the resurgence of Henrikh Mkhitaryan has forced Mourinho to sideline the 21-year-old in the past few months.
Considered to be the future of Manchester United last season, Martial has had his work rate and decision-making skills questioned by Jose Mourinho and an alarming dip in form has seen him been heavily linked with a move away from Manchester United.
Mourinho even explained in detail why Martial’s position could be in danger at Manchester United. In an earlier interview, the Portuguese manager had said:
“First of all the teams are very different, the way the team played last season was probably more adaptive to Anthony. He was probably more comfortable playing that way, at that intensity, at that rate of ball possession and ball circulation.
“Probably he also needs some time but in our squad, especially in these positions, we have Mkhitaryan, [Jesse] Lingard, [Juan] Mata, [Marcus] Rashford. These are probably the positions where we have more options. You have one opportunity, you have two, you have three - if you don’t bite then somebody comes and takes the bait.”
Also read: Anthony Martial believes Jose Mourinho no longer wants him at Manchester United
As Mourinho has shown before (Mata being frozen out at Chelsea), he is not averse to selling a player he thinks does not fit into his system and Martial might well end up making a big money move to PSG or even Real Madrid in the summer.
The below video shows why there is so much fuss regarding Anthony Martial:
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