Manchester United are set to recall Cameron Borthwick-Jackson from his failed loan spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Sam Johnstone is heading out of Old Trafford.
Borthwick-Jackson joined Wolves at the start of the season with the Championship outfit paying a significant fee and wages to secure his signature, as noted by The Telegraph.
However, he has made just six appearances so far this season and hasn’t played since early November with Paul Lambert preferring other options.
In turn, Mourinho was far from impressed with the club over essentially wasting his time by not offering the youngster regular football as expected, and so as noted in the same report, he rejected an offer from Wolves to take Johnstone on loan last month.
Instead, the 23-year-old shot-stopper has joined Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the season, and he’ll be hopeful that it proves to be a much more fruitful experience compared to the one that his United teammate has had in recent months.
Borthwick-Jackson is expected to return to Old Trafford this month where Mourinho will decide on his future with another loan spell perhaps an option provided that there will be assurances of regular playing time.
As for Johnstone, it will certainly be a good experience for him to try and prove to Steve Bruce that he deserves to be his starting goalkeeper, although he’ll have to fight off stiff competition from Pierluigi Gollini and Mark Bunn.
Bunn has displaced the Italian in the starting line-up in recent weeks, but with the addition of Johnstone, perhaps Bruce is looking to stamp his own mark on the squad and bring in players in key areas that he doesn’t believe have enough quality right now.
Transfer news: We are delighted to announce the signing of @SamJohnstone50 on loan from @ManUtd until the end of the season. #AVFC pic.twitter.com/xpBL0Jtj0F
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) January 5, 2017