So far into his tenure as Manchester United boss, Jose Mourinho's dealings in the transfer market have been rather successful.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been scoring for fun, Eric Bailly has settled in effortlessly at centre-half, Paul Pogba is running games on a more regular basis over the past couple of months and, after a difficult first few months spent on the outside looking in, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is now proving why he was named Bundesliga Player Of The Year for last season.
However, Mourinho's latest piece of business is unlikely to leave United fans too thrilled.
Advert
The United boss has decided to trigger the clause in Marouane Fellaini's contract which keeps the divisive Belgian midfielder at Old Trafford for another year.
Fellaini has struggled to endear himself to the Old Trafford faithful since his £27.5m move from Everton in 2013. Despite scoring several important goals during Louis Van Gaal's reign, incidents like the giving away of a late penalty against Everton earlier this season have come to characterise the Belgian man's time in Manchester rather than his heroics at the other end of the field.
Advert
A late, potentially decisive goal against Hull City in Tuesday night's 2-0 League Cup semi-final first leg victory may just have been the final persuasion Mourinho needed in securing Fellaini's future at the Theatre of Dreams, with the Portuguese manager saying in his post match interview, "He has a very strong mentality and has coped well. He knows he is a very important player for me."
Fellaini has plenty to celebrate this week. Image: PA
Fellaini's extended deal will keep him at Old Trafford until 2018 on his same £120,000 per week wages.
Advert
(H/T BBC Sport)
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Jose Mourinho, Football, Manchester United, Marouane Fellaini
