Manchester United in talks to extend Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Ashley Young contracts
Mata and Herrera have found themselves on the fringes of Mourinho's squad this season
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester United are in negotiations with Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Ashley Young with a view to extending their stays at Old Trafford.
The trio are out of contract at the end of the season and will be able to leave United on free transfers this summer unless new terms are agreed.
United triggered one-year extension options in Mata, Herrera and Young’s contracts last season, keeping them at the club for the 2018-19 campaign.
Mata and Herrera have spent the early part of the season on the fringes of Jose Mourinho’s squad but the United manager is nevertheless keen to tie down their futures.
Mata, scorer of United’s equaliser in their 2-1 victory over Juventus last week, turns 31 in April and has not signed a new contract at the club since joining the club in early 2014.
Herrera, who arrived from Athletic Bilbao the same year, is 29-years-old and has made just four starts this season, with two of those coming in United’s last two outings.
“I hope they will stay,” Mourinho said regarding the pair in September. “We had a similar conversation last season about Marouane [Fellaini] and I was always saying I hope he stays, I believe he stays. I say the same. I hope they stay. Of course, I am happy with the players.
“Juan and Ander, even if they are not playing or not playing a lot, not starting matches, by the personality point-of-view and character point-of-view, by what they represent in the modern society in football, they are almost unique pieces that I also don’t want to lose.”
Young is also out-of-contract at the end of the season and in talks over extending his Old Trafford spell.
The 33-year-old, a natural winger who spent the majority of last season playing as a left-back, has deputised for right-back Antonio Valencia this year and captained the side in the Ecuadorian’s absence.
Young has made 214 appearances for United since joining from Aston Villa under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011.
Negotiations between United and the representatives of David de Gea and Anthony Martial are ongoing, with the pair’s contracts also set to expire at the end of the season.
However, the club retains an option to extend De Gea and Martial’s existing terms until the summer of 2020 if talks drag on.
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