Transfer Centre

Jose Mourinho expecting Memphis Depay exit in January

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 30 December 2016

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho admits that he expects out-of-favour winger Memphis Depay to leave the club during the January transfer window.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that he expects Memphis Depay to leave the club during the January transfer window.

The 22-year-old is deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and is yet to start a Premier League match since Mourinho's arrival in the summer.

Depay has not even been included in a matchday squad in the league for more than a month, and Mourinho admitted that his past team selections have been based on the assumption that the winger will leave in January.

"I have to say that in the past couple of months my decisions in relation to Memphis were influenced by the feelings and information that he would like to leave in January and that we were going to have a real offer that we would be willing to accept," he told reporters.

"That obviously influences me. If I know, if I have the feeling that a player is leaving - if I have to give chances and develop other players - then I go to [Jesse] Lingard, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan, [Anthony] Martial, the players I know 100% who are going to stay with us. It is a position where we have more options. I know the public image is always influenced by some details of their private lives but the reality is that he is a very good professional, a very good boy.

"He has a high level of education, super polite, super professional, and works really hard. But it's a position where I have Martial, Mkhitaryan, [Juan] Mata, Lingard plus [Wayne] Rooney and [Marcus] Rashford who can also play in this position. So we have six, seven players. When I have the feeling and information that the player probably has a big chance to leave then I have to care more about the others. But if you arrive in January and nothing happens - and we have lots of matches - then if he is going to be my player until the end of the season I will help him and he will be useful for us."

Everton have been strongly linked with a move for the Dutchman when the window reopens.