Manchester United: Marouane Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj among quintet facing uncertain future at Old Trafford

Manchester United have been largely unimpressive this season, with just a handful of players contributing on a consistent basis. Injuries have played a part in derailing their impressive start, but overall a number of players have failed to meet expectations this campaign.

Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial, David de Gea, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind and Jesse Lingard – after his break through into the first team – have performed consistently to keep the Red Devils in the hunt for a place in the top four of the Premier League. They are currently in fifth place, 12 points behind leaders Leicester City and six points behind neighbours Manchester City, who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot.

According to the Manchester Evening news, the future of five United players is uncertain at the club for reasons varying from under performance to constant injury troubles that have kept them out of the team on a regular basis. Marouane Fellaini, Phil Jones, Adnan Januzaj, Paddy McNair and Antonio Valencia are the quintet fighting to remain at Old Trafford beyond the current season.

The Belgium international has been a peripheral figure since his arrival from Everton during the failed reign of David Moyes, and has since been used as an impact player off the bench when United are trailing in games. Louis Van Gaal, until recently has used him as a secondary striker instead of his usual position as a midfielder. He has failed to make the desired impact this season, and is a constant scapegoat in the eyes of the supporters when the going gets tough.

The trio of Januzaj, Jones and McNair are highly rated at the club, but all three have failed to make an impact when handed the chance by the Dutch manager. The former has only recently returned from a disastrous loan spell at Borussia Dortmund, and despite scoring a brace during an U21 game, he has failed to convince the manager to use him in the Premier League. The latter two have been with the club this campaign, and despite the Northern Irishman being brought into the team by the manager last year, he has fallen down the pecking order this season and could be allowed to leave in the summer.

The England international, on the other hand, has struggled with injuries this campaign and failed to get a consistent run in the first team. He has been replaced by Daley Blind as the manager's preferred choice to partner Chris Smalling at the heart of United's defence and he faces a tough task to break into the starting XI on a regular basis, but the recent injury crisis plaguing the club could offer him a lifeline to make an impression on the manager before the end of the season.

Valencia has also been sidelined for the last three months and is likely to be out for the foreseeable future after undergoing surgery on his foot for an injury suffered during the Manchester Derby in October last year. Matteo Darmian has made the right-back role his own and the manager is likely to look for a back up for the Italian in the summer.