Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay will not be selected for Manchester United against Reading in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, despite no acceptable offers being received for the two players so far in this transfer window.
United manager Mourinho confirmed that stance on the two players — who will be allowed to leave if the right offer is received — in his news conference on Friday. A source close to the club had earlier said that a medical for Schneiderlin is not imminent despite reports linking him with Everton.
Mourinho said: “Their situation is exactly the same. Both of them I will allow to leave the club. I will allow them to leave if the right offer comes. Until this moment, no.
“Is this a good situation? No. Why not? Because I don’t think about them as options in this moment.
“In normal conditions, they would probably be selected for the match tomorrow and they aren’t because we are waiting for something that a couple of weeks ago looked like 100 percent and at the moment looks like zero percent because we don’t have any offer that is close to the quality for the players we have.”
Mourinho said that another fringe midfielder, Bastian Schweinsteiger, “will stay” and “wants to stay” and could face Reading. The German has still only made one appearance — as a late substitute against West Ham United in the EFL Cup — under Mourinho.
“Again, my approach, because I think it’s the right one from the human point of view, is if a player is not playing I cannot stop a player to leave if the offer is right,” Mourinho said.
“Bastian, he played with us some minutes against West Ham, but he wants to stay, he is staying, he is an option, and because he’s an option he was selected for three, four matches. He’s waiting for his opportunity to play and I think January is a good month for that with so many matches.
“He’s selected [in the squad against Reading] again so he can start, he can be on the bench. He’s an option for us, I think that’s the best way to describe it.
“For many months, he wasn’t an option. We made that decision. Since then, he’s been working very well and never an injury — he was ill last week, but never an injury. His body is fine, he’s training very well, he’s ready.”
Mourinho confirmed that the whole squad is fit and available, aside from defender Eric Bailly, who is away with Ivory Coast ahead of the African Nations Cup. The Portuguese said that forward Wayne Rooney will start against Reading as will goalkeeper Sergio Romero, who will step in for David De Gea.
The United manager added that “something was wrong” when De Gea was made Player of the Year for three years in a row, reflecting on the amount of work that the goalkeeper had to do during that period.
Looking ahead to Reading manager Jaap Stam’s return to United, where he was a defender between 1998 and 2001, Mourinho said: “I’m very respectful with every player who helped shape the history of my club. For sure, he will get a great reception from the fans.
“I think he prefers that I speak about him as a manager. A team that plays like Reading, the manager has to be very good.”
Support InfoStride News' Credible Journalism: Only credible journalism can guarantee a fair, accountable and transparent society, including democracy and government. It involves a lot of efforts and money. We need your support. Click here to Donate