Bharath Rammr
Despite managing to end a six-game winless run in the league with a 3-1 victory against Manchester United, Jose Mourinho found reasons to complain after last weekend. He claimed that some of the players in the squad were not ready to give their 100% even during troubled times. The rant was seen as a direct aim at Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw, who were unavailable for the game due to niggling injuries.
Mourinho, who is often known for expecting 110% from his players, is reported to have been made aware of the unavailability of the two players in the morning just hours before the game. It may have played a part in the manager’s rant, but it has swiftly started transfer rumours linking Smalling, Shaw, and two other United players away from the club.
After recently appointing former Lazio manager Stefano Pioli, Inter Milan are expected to open up their wallets in the January transfer window. Backed by the Asian investors, the Italian Serie A outfit have been extremely poor in the opening part of the campaign. Former Ajax manager Frank de Boer lasted just under 100 days in charge of the club and Pioli’s appointment is expected to be backed with quite a significant spending in January and the club have set their sights on the English pair of Smalling and Shaw, according to Talksport.
Matteo Darmian and Memphis Depay are the other players linked with a move to San Siro; they may seem like realistic transfer targets considering that they have been on the fringes of the first team ever since Jose Mourinho came to the club in the summer. Smalling and Shaw, on the other hand, may have just irritated the manager with their unavailability.
Just a few days after Mourinho’s rant, it was learnt that Smalling would miss as much as four weeks of action with a broken toe. The England international was, after all, make his decision clear that he could not play with a major injury. Shaw’s position remains unclear, but the England international has certainly missed a long list of games since his move from Southampton in 2014. The 21-year-old may just be turning into Manchester United’s Jack Wilshere, as he has already missed 69 in games through various injuries in the last two years.
Due to the long list of injury problems, Darmian has surprisingly been getting some first-team football of late. He has featured in the last two games for Manchester United – against Fenerbahce and Swansea. Memphis Depay’s position, though, still remains a mystery with the player enjoying only 20 minutes of league action so far this season. He has failed to start a game in both the Premier League and the Europa League.
