Report: Juan Mata and Daley Blind set for Manchester United exit

Manchester United’s Daley Blind and Juan Mata are set to leave Old Trafford this summer as they will not feature in newly appointed manager Jose Mourinho’s plans for the team next season as per a report by Sky Sports.

The self-proclaimed Special One visited Manchester United’s Carrington training facility for the first time on Monday and began work on his newest project. He is understood to have identified a number of key targets and begun work on his summer transfer window activities. Mourinho is expected to be given a huge budget at the Manchester-based club to shape a team which he deems capable of winning the Premier League title.

Daley Blind and Juan Mata both are understood to be on their way out of the club as they do not fit the profile of the archetypal footballer preferred by the incoming Portuguese manager. Mourinho is likely to move the pair on if he receives a suitable offer for them, expecting to replace them with more suitable players.

The Portuguese manager prefers quicker players with high work rates, attributes which neither Blind nor Mata possesses. Blind is a technical player with excellent vision but is not necessarily physical or pacey. Although Louis van Gaal used him as a ball playing defender, Mourinho likes his defenders to be physical and fast with excellent ability in the air and will most likely not play Daley Blind in defence.

Blind had also expressed his displeasure at the sacking of Louis van Gaal saying, “Over the last six months he has not been treated fairly. I think a manager like Louis van Gaal, who has achieved so much already, deserved more respect. Even though there was so much being written about him losing his job over the last months, he always looked to protect and shelter us. It is not easy for a coach if you are repeatedly being fired in the newspapers."

Juan Mata had been sold by Jose Mourinho when he was at Chelsea in spite of him having won the club’s player of the year award for two consecutive years before Mourinho’s arrival. Mourinho was reportedly unhappy with Mata’s work rate, pace and unwillingness to track back from his attacking midfielder position. The Spaniard was deemed to be unsuitable for Mourinho’s tactical system at Chelsea and was dropped from the side. He was sold to Manchester United just six months into Mourinho’s second tenure at the club.

Jose Mourinho is Manchester United’s third manager in three years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. The Portuguese had been appointed following the sacking of Louis van Gaal, who missed out on the club’s primary target of finishing in the Champions League qualifying spots.