Manchester United in no hurry to hand new contracts to Ander Herrera and Juan Mata

Manchester Unitedare said to be in no rush to hand new deals to in-form quartet Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Daley Blind and Marouane Fellaini despite all four players entering the final 18 months of their contracts. The Red Devils are not close to opening talks as they are confident that they are not in danger of losing the players on a free transfer or on the cheap owing to the length of their contracts at the end of the current campaign.

The aforementioned players have begun the season in fine form and the club will hope to tie them down to new deals before they enter the final 12-months of their contracts at the end of the campaign. The Manchester Evening News believes the club have an option to extend each of their deals by one-year, which makes sure they cannot be poached by other interested clubs.

Mata was initially expected to be sold by Jose Mourinho as the Portuguese manager was the reason for the Spaniard's exit from Chelsea in 2014. The midfielder however has been one of the manager's preferred choices in attacking midfield and he has also been installed in his preferred number 10 position in recent games.

Herrara began the season as part of the starting XI, but was later sidelined which saw him play 53 minutes in four Premier League games. He has since returned to the first-team fold and looks to be Mourinho's perfect choice as Paul Pogba's midfield partner. The former Athletic Bilbao midfielder's recent form also saw him receive his first call up to the Spain squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Albania.

Fellaini, on the other hand, started the season as the manager's preferred choice in the deep lying midfield role behind Pogba and Wayne Rooney, but has since fallen out of favour has been an unused substitute in the last two league games. The midfielder however is likely to play a key role during the course of the season with Mourinho admitting earlier in the summer that he will not be sold.

Blind, meanwhile, has been consistent for United yet again this season after impressing in his new role as a centre-back last season. He started the campaign as Eric Bailly's partner at the heart of the defence, but has recently been moved to left-back in the absence of Luke Shaw and is likely to continue there when the Red Devils take on Liverpool on Monday (17 October). The Dutchman has put in impressive performances as a left sided full back and could play ahead of the England international, despite the latter's return to fitness.

United are expected to wait longer before they begin contract talks with the quartet owing to the 12-month extension option on each deal. Timothy Fosu-Mensah however has been handed a new deal with the club expected to announce it shortly.