Transfer Speculation: Rojo And Bailly On The Move, But Alexis Staying At Old Trafford?

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Manchester United might not play again for almost two weeks – which is quite negative considering the 1-3 loss against Manchester City in the Derby – but there are always news regarding the team. And as one would expect at this stage of the year, several transfer rumours have been including players who are currently under contract at Old Trafford.

Sanchez eager to leave, but…

Arguably the biggest name on that list is the one of Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean forward seems keen on leaving Manchester United as soon as possible. However, that might not be possible. There are not many suitors for him, which shouldn’t be surprising given the kind of season he’s having at the moment.

However, his huge wages are also a problem, as only a handful of teams in the world have the resources to sign him. For what is worth, PSG were mentioned as a potential destination. But the Ligue 1 champions are looking at younger players, and the former Barcelona star (who’s now 29 years old) does not fit the mold.

Rojo and Bailly on the way out of Old Trafford?

Two players that might end up leaving, however, are Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo. The former due to his poor performances, and the latter due to his ongoing injury issues.

It seems Mourinho has settled Victor Lindelof and Eric Smalling as the starting pairing at centre-back, with Phil Jones as the first-choice replacement. But even with Jones injured, Mourinho does not rate Bailly or Rojo very high anymore. That’s surprising, considering the Ivorian looked like a potential building block on defence roughly 12 months ago. Time flies, huh?

Mourinho’s idea is quite simple. He wants to offload either Rojo or Bailly in order to sign a new center-back during the January transfer window. For what is worth, Bailly has been linked with an AC Milan switch. Could Manchester United explore a swap with some of the Milan’s young defenders such as Alessio Romagnoli or Mattia Caldara?

During the recent transfer window, The Red Devils were linked with names such as Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Yerry Mina, Toby Alderweireld and Raphael Varane, but neither arrived at Old Trafford. Could that change during the January transfer window? That seems unlikely. But Mourinho has set his sights on adding depth in the centre-back position. And at the very least, he’s open to let some players leave in order to avoid a logjam at the position. That’s a step in the right direction.

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