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DALEY BLIND and Juan Mata are to be retained in Manchester United's first-team squad after earning Jose Mourinho's trust with their application and performances during their new manager's first months at the English Premier League club.
The Netherlands and Spain internationals were amongst a quartet of highly-paid senior players made available for transfer by Mourinho as he sought to make space in an over-manned squad for the four “fundamental” signings which he is using to rebuild the spine of United's team.
Bastian Schweinsteiger - who has been excluded from first-team training - and Marcos Rojo were also deemed expendable by the new Manchester United manager.
With less than three weeks of the summer transfer window remaining, however, United have failed to move on a single player over the age of 23, as high salaries and the reluctance of well-established internationals to join a lesser club have complicated Mourinho's planned rebuild.
As matters stand, United still have 31 footballers with Premier League experience training at Carrington, plus reserve keeper Sam Johnstone; nine more than the squad size their manager considers optimal.
Everton have pursued Mata, but having been switched from Chelsea to United by Mourinho for what was at that point a club-record transfer fee of £37.1million, the Spanish forward refused to accept the drop in status involved in swapping Old Trafford for Goodison.
Argentina international Rojo declined a lucrative offer from Shanghai SIPG, concluding he did not want to leave European football for the Chinese Super League
Mata has impressed Mourinho with his willingness to follow tactical instructions both more demanding than those asked of him by Louis van Gaal, and requiring him to operate away from the Spaniard's preferred No.10 role. “Jose loves the guy,” a close friend told The Daily Record . “He works well and is a good player. Maybe not for 90 minutes, but very good for 60 minutes.”
Blind, who at 1m80 is one of the smallest individuals ever to start in the centre of a Mourinho defence, has earned his new manager's trust with his attitude to a training regime radically different from Van Gaal's, his tactical intelligence, and a series of “fantastic” performances alongside new signing Eric Bailly.
Weaknesses exploited by Blind's opponents in his first two campaigns in English football have been countered by strengthening the back four's protection from midfield plus other strategic changes that include a switch from man-to-man to zonal marking.
Though Mourinho would ideally like to add at least one experienced defender to his squad, United are insisting on high-earner exits before they add to the close-season signings of Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba.
Whether he is allowed further changes or the group remains closed, Mourinho has been pleased with his new charges have adjusted to a more demanding playing style since returning from a mishap-strewn tour of China.
As I was saying since Jose was appointed, The Chosen Juan is staying
