Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has reportedly been left impressed with Juan Mata and Daley Blind, and in turn will not ditch the pair this summer.
As with any new manager at a club, certain players are put under additional pressure to produce as they initially don’t fit into the plans of the man in charge.
Given Mata’s history with Mourinho at Chelsea, it seemed as though the Spaniard would be one of the first men out the Old Trafford door, while Blind and Bastian Schweinsteiger were also tipped to struggle to secure their place in the squad.
The German international has been frozen out and so it looks as though he may have no other choice but to consider other options this month, but according to The Mirror, both Mata and Blind have impressed Mourinho in training and in the win over Bournemouth.
Mata scored in the victory at the Vitality Stadium, and although he struggled at times to have an influence coming in off the right flank, he would have been pleased with his contribution as he continues to fight to keep his place in the line-up.
Further, Blind was impressive next to Eric Bailly in the heart of the United defence, but time will tell as to whether or not the Dutchman keeps his spot as Chris Smalling will be knocking on the door to return in the coming weeks.
Nevertheless, after performing well both in training and on match day, Blind looks as though he’ll stay at Old Trafford despite Mourinho being keen on trimming his squad.
As noted by The Mirror, the United squad consists of 32 players currently, much more than what Mourinho would ideally be working with.
Through a combination of players not wanting to leave Old Trafford to the right offers not coming in, they’ve been unable to shift many players deemed surplus to requirements and that has had led to frustration.
However, having already signed four new players this summer, Mourinho could be looking at his options in the next fortnight to determine whether or not he can offload a few before bringing in some more reinforcements.