Jose Mourinho Hints at Contract Extensions for 7 Manchester United Players This Season

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has hinted that as many as seven of his players will be in line for some sort of contract extension in the next few months, with a number of individuals currently due to be out of contract at the end of this season as things stand.

Most of those have clauses in their deals that will add another 12 months to the terms, with Mourinho suggesting the club has every intention of extending all those contracts to 2019.

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Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and perennial loanee Sam Johnstone are covered by such deals, according to the Manchester Evening News.

Herrera has long been talked about as soon receiving a new long-term contract. There have been doubts over the longer term futures of Shaw, and even Blind to a point, but the club certainly won't allow themselves to get into the same dire contract situation as Arsenal.

It was reported during the week that Mourinho wouldn't stand in the way of Ashley Young leaving for more regular football, but that the player was keen to stay, even just as a back-up player, and would ask for his additional 12 month clause to be triggered.

Speaking to the media about the contract situations and the extension clauses, Mourinho explained, "Of course it makes a difference. When the club has a one-year option it means they have one more year of contract so nobody is in the last year."

He went on to explains that veteran pair Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Michael Carrick are the only two players who are in the final 12 months and who could be out of contract in 2018. The boss did not mention Marouane Fellaini, whose 12 month extension was activated last season, suggesting that the versatile Belgian will also be handed a fresh new deal in the coming months.

On top of Mata, Herrera, Blind, Shaw, Young and Johnstone, Fellaini makes seven.

"The only player, two players, [out of contract in 2018] are Zlatan and Carrick. Two players at the end of the season who are going to sit, analyse what they did and what they want to do," Mourinho explained.

"All the other players are under the club control until end of the 2018/19 season. We are speaking about June [20]19. No player ends his contract."