Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho had a secret reason for offloading Memphis Depay to Lyon, it has been claimed.
The Holland international is in the spot-light having rebuilt his career in Ligue 1.
And the Manchester Evening News claim Mourinho sold Depay to Lyon because he wanted to give more game time to Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Armenia international, now at Arsenal, moved to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund in 2016.
And Mourinho only sold Depay because he wanted to give Mkhitaryan the foundations to flourish at the time.
Mourinho wants four signings in January to get Manchester United back on track, reports say.
The Daily Mail claim the 55-year-old wants Lazio bulldozer Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who he flew out to watch personally earlier this week.
Croatia duo Ivan Perisic and Ante Rebic are also on his list.
Nikola Milenkovic is the final name on his radar.
But the United board could veto pursuits due to their reluctance to splash the cash mid-season.
Paul Pogba has reportedly agreed to join Barcelona from United via his agent, Mino Raiola.
Rai Sport report the United star is hellbent on securing a move to the Nou Camp.
And it is said that the World Cup winner has already agreed a ‘move in principle.’
Raiola has supposedly played the role of negotiator between both the player and club.
But United are still adamant he will be going nowhere – either in January or the summer.