Manchester United: Jose Mourinho to axe four players to make room for new signings

Jose Mourinho is ready to sell four players from the current squad to make room for other potential recruits in the summer and has already identified the deadwood inherited from Louis van Gaal's reign. The Portuguese manager has made three signings thus far in the window and is looking for a few others as he looks to bring Manchester United back in the title chase.

The Daily Record suggests that Bastian Schweinsteiger, Juan Mata, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo are all set to leave Old Trafford this summer after failing to make the cut in Mourinho's plans for next season. Mata will be replaced by the incoming Henrikh Mkhitaryan while the likes of Blind and Rojo will be accounted for by new signing Eric Bailly.

Mata, who played under Mourinho at Chelsea, signed for United in January 2014 under David Moyes, but has found himself out of Mourinho's plans for the season yet again. Meanwhile, Rojo was in and out of the side last season due to injury and was deployed mostly at full-back in the absence of Luke Shaw.

Blind made a successful transition into defence from midfield and was rock solid at the back, leading to a brilliant defensive record for the Red Devils. However, Mourinho has reservations over Blind's physical characteristics and is skeptical about his ability to have a positive impact next season.

Schweinsteiger, who signed from Bayern Munich last summer, managed only 13 league starts, before succumbing to injury in April. The Red Devils are now pursuing a deal for Paul Pogba and are willing to break the transfer record for his signature from Juventus.

The Frenchman left Old Trafford in 2012 on a free transfer and moved to Turin and has since made a name for himself as one of the best midfielders in the world. The manager recently hinted that he will be in the market for a few more players, making a case for Pogba's transfer to Manchester over the summer.

"We have brought a few new faces in, we will keep some others but, in the end, it doesn't matter who the manager is, it doesn't who the new players are or who is staying or leaving, it's Man United and Man United is much more than any one of us," Mourinho told United's official website.