Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to become the highest profile casualty of Jose Mourinho’s shake-up at Old Trafford as the new Manchester United manager sets about trimming his squad.
After signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mourinho wants to complete his summer spending with £100million-rated Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba before the Community Shield in a fortnight’s time.
Pogba’s arrival will leave United overloaded in central midfield and Schweinsteiger is the favourite to make way, having fallen down the pecking order behind Morgan Schneiderlin, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini.
The 31-year-old Germany captain has been linked with Besiktas and Paris Saint-Germain just a year after joining United from Bayern Munich for £6.6million on a three-year deal worth £150,000-a-week.
Former Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, who comes up against Mourinho in Beijing tomorrow when United play Manchester City on their pre-season tour of China, later claimed Schweinsteiger had not been fully fit for three years, and those concerns were borne out during a disappointing season curtailed by a knee injury in March after only 13 Premier League starts.
Schweinsteiger is on honeymoon after marrying his tennis star partner Ana Ivanovic and is expected to report for pre-season training at the end of next week.
But he was notably left off the list of absentees mentioned by Mourinho following Friday’s 4-1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai.
“No Ibrahimovic, no Fellaini, no Martial, no Schneiderlin. Lots of them that are not here yet, “ Mourinho pointed out before admitting that departures are inevitable.
“Obviously there are some players who are not going to stay, so the squad will be different than we are in this moment,” added the 53-year-old, who prefers to keep his first-team numbers around the 23 mark.
Marcos Rojo, who did not help his cause with an unconvincing performance as a second-half substitute, is another of Louis van Gaal’s signings who has an uncertain future following the £30m signing of Bailly from Villarreal. Matteo Darmian could also be surplus to requirements a year after he was signed from Torino by Van Gaal.
Questions hang over a number of other players - including Juan Mata, Memphis Depay, Adnan Januzaj and Ashley Young - who have been told they are unlikely to be regular starters.
Mata, sold to United when Mourinho was Chelsea manager, met his old boss last Monday before United flew to China. It is believed that he will see how the season develops rather than rushing into any decisions.
Mourinho will also offload a number of young players, either permanently or on loan.
A deal for defender Guillermo Varela to spend next season at Eintracht Frankfurt was completed yesterday, and striker Will Keane is believed to have been brought on tour to try to spark interest from potential buyers.
Striker James Wilson and defender Tyler Blackett have also been told they can go out on loan.
Having clearly identified the four new signings to transform his new team, Mourinho has largely settled on a first-choice line-up to play in his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
Free signing Ibrahimovic will lead the attack and he reports for pre-season today after being given an extended break to work with one of two fitness coaches sent back from China.
“On Sunday he is going to start a specific programme we have prepared before he joins our group on the Thursday, so he has five days just for him and one of my fitness guys,” said Mourinho.
Wayne Rooney has confirmed that he will fill the role behind the Swedish star, saying: “He (Mourinho) said to me about playing No 10. That is something I’ve now got to work on and get myself in the right position to score goals.”
New £26.3m signing Mkhitaryan will play on the right flank with Martial on the left. That means young Marcus Rashford will have to be satisfied with more time on the bench. - Mail on Sunday