Manchester United might need another two exits to complete midfield reset

After announcing on Thursday morning that Juan Mata will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of this month, Manchester United have now said goodbye to three senior midfielders in less than 24 hours.

On Wednesday, they confirmed that both Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard will also no longer be registered employees of the club when their current deals reach their conclusions on June 30. The exits of the aforementioned trio have long since been expected, but confirmation of their departures has made it crystal clear that United have got their wheels in motion for their summer rebuild.

United need to make significant changes to the landscape of their first-team squad this summer and the departures of Pogba, Lingard and Mata will be seen as the correct first steps that had to be taken. They had all reached the end of the road as far as their Old Trafford careers were concerned; now United must look to the future.

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What is all the more significant about their departures is that they have come from an area of the team that is in most need of essential maintenance this summer. United are crying out for a new defensive-minded midfielder, as well as a box-to-box-type operator. Barcelona ace Frenkie de Jong continues to attract plenty of attention.

Along with Nemanja Matic's exit, United have cut their midfield roster from this season by four before the transfer window has even officially opened. Technically, however, they have only reduced it by one, with Andreas Pereira, Donny van de Beek and James Garner returning from loan spells at Flamengo, Everton and Nottingham Forest respectively. Each player's futures is now under the