With the January transfer period nearing its start, many players' futures will be decided in the next two months or so. Manchester United have not had a start that they would have hoped for under new manager Jose Mourinho with the manager publicly criticising his players on a number of occasions and also snubbing the likes of Memphis Depay and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. It has now emerged that Italian giants, Inter Milan are monitoring four United players and are trying to lure them to the San Siro.
Inter's new manager Stefano Pioli will supposedly contact Jose Mourinho in the coming days about the availability of some his players in the next transfer window. It was earlier reported that Matteo Darmian is nearing a move to the Nerazzurris as the Italian has failed to adjust well in the Premier League. Other stars that are being targeted by Pioli according to Italian publication, Corriere Dello Sport are Memphis Depay, Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw.
Depay has started just one match under Mourinho this season and was highly unimpressive last season too in which the Dutchman scored just two goals. He joined United last summer for £25 million from PSV Eindhoven and was recently left out of the 21-man squad by Jose Mourinho for their Europa League game against Fenerbahce. Europa League in itself has been a low priority for the new manager, and Depay’s exclusion might signal that his career with the 20-time English champions is over.
Depay has been targeted by the likes of Everton and Southampton too and a move away from the Red Devils is being seen as an obvious one. The case of Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw is a curious one as the duo have been criticised by Mourinho over their lack of being match fit for the clash against Swansea last week. Smalling has been linked to the Gunners in the summer whereas Shaw is also rumoured to be preparing for an exit after a fallout with the manager.
Inter Milan sacked former manager Frank De Boer on November 1 after a string of poor results as the former Ajax man failed to settle in Serie A with Inter falling to the 13th spot under him. Former Lazio and Bologna manager, Pioli replaced him as the owners Suning Group are looking to invest heavily in bringing Inter out of their recent slump with the Italian giants acquiring big money signings this summer in the form of Joao Mario and Gabigol.
