Manchester United plan January exits

Manchester United may give more players the chance to leave in the club in the January transfer window, according to a report in the Mirror.

United have seen Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku, Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian all leave the club this calendar year, though both Smalling and Sanchez are due to return at the end of the season when their loan spells finish.

There are further departures expected in the summer of 2020, with Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic all possible transfer targets, and Phil Jones may be well down the pecking order and forced to look elsewhere for regular football.

There could be more action sooner on the horizon though, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ready to let youngsters leave in order to gain experience elsewhere before returning to Old Trafford.

Academy player performance manager Les Parry said:

“We’ll plan it out and we’ve identified four or five who might be going out in January. Obviously, our first-team manager has a say.

“Angel, Tahith, and James could have gone out on loan but he wanted to keep them here and have a look at them on tour. So a decision will be made, no doubt, for January as well. Hopefully, all three will be in the first team and not going anywhere.

“They’ve been presented with an opportunity and they’ve taken the opportunity so now a couple of them are regulars on the team sheet each week. We’ve had opportunities that have cropped up from nowhere. That’s football.

“Hopefully, some of the lads out on loan now will also catch the eye as some have gone out with a perception of their ability and where they’ll end up but hopefully they’ll come back and people will say maybe we’ve got a little diamond.”