British newspapers on Friday were dominated with news that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is looking at a mass exodus of players from the club before starting off their 2016-17 main season. A fresh start with fresh players is what is on the mind of the Portuguese coach for now, as per the reports.
Also, having fringe players at Old Trafford does not feature in Mourinho's plans.
Sun broke the story that as many as nine players, which includes Germany veteran Bastian Schweinsteiger, are on their way out of Manchester United this summer. Gossips also started after the former Bayern Munich midfielder was not seen training with the Red Devils' first-team on Thursday.
Although a versatile midfielder like Schweinsteiger could come as a major asset for any club in the world, Mourinho doesn't exactly feature him in his plan of things at United. The 31-year-old Schweinsteiger signed for the Premier League giants only in the summer of 2015 under former manager Louis van Gaal.
He made a total of 31 appearances in the Premier League last season, scoring once and assisting two goals.
Other than the Germany football team captain, the eight players who face the axe include:
Adnan Januzaj
Age - 21
Position - Wing
Manchester United appearances (as on July 29) - Senior team: 63 | U21 side: 37
Tyler Blackett
Age - 22
Position - Defence
Manchester United appearances (as on July 29) - Senior team: 12 | U21 side: 43
James Wilson
Age - 20
Position - Forward
Manchester United appearances (as on July 29) - Senior team: 20 | U21 side: 24
Will Keane
Age - 23
Position - Forward
Manchester United appearances (as on July 29) - Senior team: 3 | U21 side: 58
Andreas Pereira
Age - 20
Position - Wing
Manchester United appearances (as on July 29) - Senior team: 63 | U21 side: 37
Paddy McNair
Age - 21
Position - Attacking midfield
Manchester United appearances (as on July 29) - Senior team: 13 | U21 side: 46
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson
Age - 19
Position - Left back
Manchester United appearances (as on July 29) - Senior team: 14 | U21 side: 10
Timothy Fosu-Mensah
Age - 18
Position - Defencive midfield
Manchester United appearances (as on July 29) - Senior team: 10 | U21 side: 13