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Manchester United and David Moyes are facing an early exit in the Champions League at the hands of Olympiakos after a dismal 2-0 defeat in Greece on Tuesday night.
Goals from Alejandro Dominguez and Joel Campbell sent United home knowing they now need a three-goal win at Old Trafford in a fortnight to advance to the quarter finals.
Moyes is now under incredible pressure after already being knocked out of the FA Cup and Capital One Cup, as well as relinquishing their Premier League title without a fight. They were out of the title race before 2013 had ended and are now trailing fourth-placed Liverpool by 11 points with just as many games remaining.
Moyes’ first season in charge has gone from one disaster to another and it looks set to continue and even further into the summer as key players may look to leave without Champions League football on offer.
David de Gea
The Spaniard has constantly been linked with a return to Spain since signing for United. Whether it is Barcelona or Real Madrid, more recently Real, the press love to link the stopper to one of the Spanish giants – and who can blame them?
De Gea started his United career in a shaky state but has turned it all around and is now a household name and one of Europe’s best goalkeepers. He is still young, too, and at the age of 23 a move back to Spain to play for Real Madrid could be just the remedy he needs to become Spain’s number 1 goalkeeper.
A goalkeeper as talented as De Gea deserves to play in the Champions League but with United looking set to miss out next year and, who knows, possibly the season after – a move away could be on the cards in the summer.
He has probably been the club’s only consistent performer this season and, should he want to leave, the club can have hold no grudges against the Spaniard.
Despite the disastrous defending in front of him, De Gea has kept nine clean sheets.
Robin van Persie
The Dutchman dropped the biggest hint yet last night that he could leave the club without the offer of Champions League football on the table as he cut a frustrated figure post-match. He himself has struggled this season, both with injuries and form, as Moyes’ tactics don’t suit him.
Robin van Persie is not a target man but he is being used as one by Moyes who insists on playing every attack down both wings and launching cross after cross after cross into the penalty area. That tactics just isn’t working and you can sense van Persie’s frustration. With just 11 goals this season, he’s far off the pace he set over the past two seasons and having just a few years left at the top of the game, can he really afford a season (or more) without Champions League football?
Juan Mata and Shinji Kagawa
One of the more obvious players who could be set to leave is the Japanese midfielder. He was stunning in Germany with Borussia Dortmund but just hasn’t hit it off at United.
He has constantly struggled to hold down a place in the first-team and his performances have dipped because of that. His confidence isn’t great, either, and there are sure to be plenty of teams around Europe interested in Kagawa in the summer. With the prospect of actually being able to play Champions League football next season somewhere else, Kagawa could be one of the first out of the door at Old Trafford.
Kagawa is likely to leave the club in the summer anyway but without football at the top level of the European game, it makes his decision even easier. Someone could get a talented player very cheap in Kagawa.
Probably a long shot but Juan Mata’s chances of sticking around for Europa League football aren’t great. It is true that he won the Europa League with Chelsea but he had just won the Champions League the season before and only ended up in its sister competition due to the side’s elimination in the elite tournament.
Mata has made it quite clear that he will leave a club if he needs to. He did it with Valencia and then Chelsea, who made it clear he was not going to start under Jose Mourinho. It could be the same for United in the summer. Mata is one of the finest attacking players in the world and needs the Champions League.
If Paris Saint-Germain or any other major European side show an interest in the Spaniard, don’t be surprised to see him push for a move away.
