Manchester United Fan View: Three players we should offload in January

Regarding to press reports, it looks like manager Jose Mourinho will have to sell a few players over the January transfer window before he can bring the one or two new faces to Old Trafford. The side are currently in second place in the Premier League and are top of their respective group in the Champions League but they lack squad depth.

Although we are in the second week of November, a manager like Mourinho will know who is important to keep within the squad and who is not needed anytime soon or in the long run. Not long ago, there were stories going around that he has issues with a few of the players and he doesn’t believe that they are reliable enough.

With no further ado, here are the three players that the coach should think of selling, in order to create more funds for transfers and wages leading to potential signings in the month of January…

Juan Mata

Juan Mata is certainly a well-liked player within the United fanbase and has a decent contribution rate in terms of assists and goals but he has failed to make an important impact this season and has gotten away with many average performances. Remembering that he will turn 30 in April and is currently on £140,000 per week, it would be ideal to get him off the books and invest in a better and younger player.

It’s no secret that the Premier League has become very defensive in recent years, which does not help an individual like Mata at all, who lacks the physical ability to dominate the defenders in the final third and the burst of pace to get going on the counter-attack. The Spaniard has had a few good moments at the club such as bagging a brace away at Anfield as well as the vital equaliser in the FA Cup Final against Crystal Palace. Unfortunately, it’s time for Mata to leave the club…

Luke Shaw

The situation of Luke Shaw is definitely a confusing one, as no one really knows what has happened between the player and the manager. Everyone knows about the awful injury he suffered a few years ago, and ever since, he just hasn’t seemed to be player he was. On top of that, the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Nigel Adkins and Louis Van Gaal have all criticised the youngster’s fitness levels which was a rising issue since his early days at Southampton.

Given that he is young and still has a long career ahead of him, United could potentially get £15m to £20m for the left-back who does not seem to be in the plans of Mourinho. Also, this will allow the boss to bring in a replacement that will be available on a regular basis as the side’s main threat has come more from the right.

Matteo Darmian

At the time he was brought in by Van Gaal in the summer of 2015, a lot of Red Devils including myself were excited about the signing of Matteo Darmian, who had an impressive tournament with Italy at the 2014 World Cup and was compared to many world-class full-backs such as Javier Zanetti and Maicon. Not only that, but he was also awarded with the Pallone Azzurro trophy as he was announced as the Best Italian footballer that year. Italian and Serie A experts had claimed that he was the next big thing and what United needed in the right-back role.

However, the expectations compared to the actual outcome is totally different as the former Torino and Palermo full-back has shown his defensive ability from time to time but has not proven that he is intelligent or useful in the final third. When getting himself in the good attacking areas of the field, Darmian tends to fail to put in a quality cross into the box or reacts very slowly on what to do next.

Youngsters like Axel Tuanzebe and Demetri Mitchell could most likely go on to be more productive on both sides of the pitch compared to what Darmian has done over the past few seasons.