Manchester United to consider selling players to sign Mesut Ozil

London, Nov 8: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been told he must sell before he can buy in the January transfer window.

The 54-year-old signed Romelu Lukaku, Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matic last summer but missed out on Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan.

The Red Devils have been missing creativity in their midfield of late in Paul Pogba’s absence and as per reports, Mourinho is looking to solve this issue as soon as he can.

United have moved on from signing Croatian winger Ivan Perisic but Mourinho would still like to add a creative player to his side as they bid to chase down Manchester City.

The club’s interest in Mesut Ozil is clear and United could move for him in January instead of waiting for an open auction at the end of the season when his contract is up at Arsenal.

However, the German is likely to cost around £20million in January and United will need to offload before they can get him in.

As per reports, three players who might be considered to be put on the transfer list to bring the Mourinho favourite are Luke Shaw, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Chris Smalling.

Despite Mourinho’s claims, it’s clear that Luke Shaw has no future at Old Trafford and might make his move in the summer.

The 22-year-old’s made just two appearances so far this season and has played a mere 48 minutes of football.

With Marcos Rojo returning from injury in the next fortnight, Shaw is likely to fall even further down the pecking order at Old Trafford and United are likely to cash in.

Meanwhile, another player who could definitely leave the club in January in Chris Smalling after being left out by England boss Gareth Southgate.

Gareth Southgate’s reasoning for leaving Chris Smalling out of his latest England squad came as a huge blow to the United centre-half.

Smalling was left out for his lack of ability on the ball and his spot in England’s World Cup squad is now under serious threat.