The last few weeks have been testing for both José Mourinho and Manchester United, with poor results and performances taking centre stage.
For all of Mourinho’s good work this season, it can be ever so quickly forgotten with a disappointing patch of form, which is exactly what the Red Devils are currently immersed in.
Although they have only lost two games in their last eight, Man United are now under pressure for a top-four finish with losses against Tottenham and Huddersfield. It looked as if Mourinho’s men had already secured their place for next season’s competition, but the tides can swiftly change in the Premier League, and they now find themselves deep in the battle with three other teams.
What is incredibly dangerous for Manchester United is the fact that they are still in three competitions with things to prove in all of them. In the Premier League, they have to finish inside the top four as a minimum, and given they have occupied second for the majority of the season, anything lower would be a hugely unsuccessful year.
The Champions League is different as they are not expected to win it or progress into the final, but they should be comfortably beating Sevilla in the Round of 16. Given their recent form, a tricky away game in Spain could really upset the balance and an exit so early on in the knockout rounds would be deemed as failure.
In the FA Cup, Mourinho will want his players to go for glory as it is most likely their only route for a trophy this campaign. After they won the Europa League and League Cup last year, coming away with no trophies would be unsatisfactory, to say the least.
But perhaps the worst outcome from not securing Champions League football or winning trophies is, slowly but surely, big names in Manchester United’s dressing room are going to think twice about their careers at the club.
David de Gea is a player who is routinely linked with a move away from Old Trafford and was supposed to have signed for Real Madrid in 2015. Thanks to disorganisation from Madrid’s end, the deal was not done, and the Spaniard has remained in Manchester ever since.
Florentino Pérez, Madrid’s President, has been a long-time admirer of De Gea and will want to bring him to the Bernabéu this summer as he looks to complete a squad overhaul. Madrid might still be in the Champions League, but their season has not gone to plan, and so mistakes in the previous two transfer windows will be corrected this summer.
For Manchester United, losing a player of De Gea’s calibre would be a huge punch in the stomach in terms of what they want to achieve. With Mourinho at the helm, United’s board believe he is the man to rival Pep Guardiola’s dominance and restore the glory days at Old Trafford.
Selling De Gea, which will only come to fruition if the player forces it, would send the wrong message to the rest of the players – such as Paul Pogba and Alexis Sánchez – and could potentially cause a negative knock-on effect.
The Spain international has saved Manchester United countless times over the last few seasons and has been an instrumental part of the rebuilding process since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. It would simply be a huge error in judgement, no matter the price, to let a player leave who is about to enter his prime years.
Manchester United are unlikely to accept any offer for De Gea, but will have to act accordingly if the player causes an uproar. Should it come to that point, the Red Devils will have failed in convincing the player that he is where he belongs in Manchester. For De Gea to force that move, there would be a considerable lack of belief from him that the club cannot compete for trophies.
The Red Devils are a long way off their cross-town rivals right now, but it would only get worse with their best players leaving and no suitable replacement ready.
Manchester United must reward the Spaniard with the contract he thinks he is worthy of because he deserves it. Without De Gea, the club would be in a sorry state of affairs.
