Jose Mourinho is planning a summer revamp of his defence with Chris Smalling and Phil Jones in the firing line, according to reports.
The Mirror are reporting that the Manchester United duo are set to be axed as Mourinho has doubts about the pairs’ ability after the 1-0 loss against Newcastle on Sunday.
Mourinho knows his defence is one of United’s biggest weaknesses and the report suggests the Special One has seen the huge expenditure of his rivals on their back four’s as a wake up call.
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Manchester City spent £57million on getting Aymeric Laporte in while Liverpool splashed out a record £75million on centre-back Virgil van Djik.
Leicester defender Harry Maguire is said to be on United’s summer transfer wishlist while Real Madrid ace Raphael Varane is also said to be being looked at.
Smalling dived and conceded the free kick that Newcastle scored their winner from while Jones was caught out against Tottenham and scored an own goal in the 2-0 loss.
The pair both have deals until 2019 but one will likely have to make way for Eric Bailly when he returns from injury.
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Marcos Rojo is set to sign a new deal at the club while Mourinho is reportedly ready to keep faith with £35m summer signing Victor Lineloff despite a shaky start to life in the Prem.
Former United defender Phil Neville lad into Jones and Smalling at the weekend, branding them a “disaster”.
He said: “They’ve got the best defensive record because they have the best goalkeeper in the world in David De Gea, and Nemanja Matic out in front who protects them really well. But the last two away games, Smalling and Jones have been a disaster.”