Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney omitted from squad for Feyenoord game

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is among six high-profile players who have been omitted from Jose Mourinho's 20-man squad for their Europa League game against Feyenoord. Antonio Valencia, Luke Shaw and Jesse Lingard have also remained in Manchester, while midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan and defender Phil Jones are nursing injuries.

As a result of the changes, Mourinho is certain to hand chances to a number of players in his squad who have enjoyed limited or no playing time so far this season.

Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Michael Carrick and Memphis Depay have all been peripheral figures under Mourinho, but could be handed a chance in the opening game of United's Europa League campaign on Thursday (15 September). Meanwhile, there is also the prospect of Morgan Schneiderlin, who was linked with a move away from United over the summer, being handed his first start.

Surprisingly, perhaps, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been named in the travelling squad and he could line up alongside in-form Englishman Marcus Rashford, who was promised his first start of the campaign by Mourinho following his impressive showing in the Manchester derby.

Meanwhile, Mourinho also suggested that the likes of Mkhitaryan and Lingard — both of whom produced poor performances in the Manchester derby and were substituted at half-time — would not feature against Feyenoord. "The performances are the ones that are the deciding factor," the United boss recently said when asked if certain individuals should fear for their positions, according to the Manchester Evening News.

"How can I decide bad performances? Bad performances is the only way that I can decide. So if you are asking me 'are they going to play against Feyenoord?' No. No. And is it to punish? No, it's not to punish, it is just to decide in relation to what I have, and what do I have with their performances. So, of course, I'm going to play other players."