Manchester United: Jose Mourinho planning massive clear-out at Old Trafford

New Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho could let up to eight players leave Old Trafford this summer as he favours a more compact playing squad. Citing sources at the club, the Sun on Sunday reported that Marcos Rojo, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Daley Blind, Juan Mata, Memphis Depay and Adnan Januzaj could all be sold or would join another club on loan in the summer.

The funds raised from the sales could then be used to finance a potential £100m ($130m) move for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, the paper claimed.

Mourinho is reportedly unhappy with the bloated playing squad left behind by his predecessor Louis van Gaal and wants to trim it to 22 core men.

Rojo, Schneiderlin, Depay and Schweinsteiger were all underwhelming last season at Old Trafford, while Mata was sold by Mourinho during his second spell at Chelsea in January 2014.

The playmaker only scored six league goals for United in the recently-concluded season and was left out of Spain's squad for Euro 2016.

The arrival of Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund is bound to push Mata down the pecking order at Old Trafford, making a summer exit from the club a likely outcome.

Mourinho said in his first press conference as United boss that he prefers specialist players to those who can play in a variety of positions, putting Blind's future at the club at risk. Januzaj left on loan to Borussia Dortmund last summer, but failed to impress and returned to Manchester in January.

"Jose has made it clear he wants to work with 22 key players. It means up to eight players heading out," a United source told the Sun.

Mourinho officially started work at Old Trafford on 4 July and said that he wanted to bring in four specialist players before the transfer window shuts. Three players have already arrived – Eric Bailly, Henrik Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Villarreal, Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively – as the Portuguese looks to mould the squad he inherited from Van Gaal to his liking.