Mourinho’s clearance sale Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho

BEIJING. — Jose Mourinho on Saturday night warned his Manchester United squad: If I don’t trust you, you’re gone. The Old Trafford boss will see his side take on neighbours Manchester City in China this afternoon and says he must be able to “trust” his players. Mourinho said: “Obviously there are some players here who are not going to stay so the squad will be different at the start of the season than it is at this moment.

“The players must start to win my trust and start winning their positions in the squad and team.” And after Juventus on Saturday confirmed they are in talks with United over the £100million deal for Paul Pogba, Mourinho looks to be able to shape the squad as he wishes after already signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to become the highest profile casualty of Mourinho’s shake-up at Old Trafford as the new Manchester United manager sets about trimming his squad.

After signing Ibrahimovic, Bailly and Mkhitaryan, Mourinho wants to complete his summer spending with the acquisition of £100 million-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 Turkish club 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 today when United play Manchester City on their pre-season tour of China, later claimed that 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 just 13 Premier League starts.

Schweinsteiger is currently on his honeymoon after marrying his tennis star partner Ana Ivanovic and is expected to report back for pre-season training at the end of this 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 (Anthony) 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 here who are not going to stay in the squad, 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 in the Shanghai Stadium, is another of Louis van Gaal’s signings who is understood to have an uncertain future following the £30m signing of Bailly from Villarreal. — The Daily Star-Daily Mail.

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