The playmaker and midfielder-turned-defender have been vital first team players under Louis van Gaal, but they do not feature in the long term plans of new Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and are set to leave the club this summer.
Juan Mata is expected to be one of the first casualties of Jose Mourinho’s reign at Old Trafford. The Spaniard was not a first choice under Mourinho at Chelsea and was eventually sold to the Red Devils despite winning the club Player of the Year award for the two preceding seasons. He is understood to be worried about his future and there is reportedly even a move to Barcelona in the works.
Another early casualty could be Dutchman Daley Blind, who has been transformed from a defensive midfielder to a centre-back by Louis van Gaal.
Blind and Mata could be the first two high-profile players leaving the club because they do not feature in Jose Mourinho’s plans of turning Manchester United into a team capable of winning the Premier League, according to Sky Sports. The report goes on to state that Mourinho would approve the sale of both players this summer should the club receive acceptable bids, and the Portuguese is expected to reinvest that money in direct replacments for the duo.
Not part of the Mourinho plan
While Juan Mata’s lack of pace and defensive dedication has always been something Jose Mourinho has had a problem with, Daley Blind is a player with no future as a centre-back in a Mourinho team. The Portuguese coach likes big, strong central defenders to suit his physical style of football, and these are attributes which the ball-playing Blind does not necessarily possess.
Blind has spent two seasons at Manchester United after joining for £14m from Dutch Eredivisie club Ajax, while Juan Mata arrived from Chelsea in January 2014. Both players would generate a fair degree of interest in the transfer market and it remains to be seen if United can get a decent price for them.
