5 reasons why Jose Mourinho should get rid of Marouane Fellaini
Last night’s Europa League semi-final saw Manchester United narrowly edge out Spanish side Celta Vigo to reach the final, where they face off with legendary Dutch outfit Ajax. United came through as 2-1 winners over the two legs, escaping with a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last night which was enough to see them claim victory. The scorer last night? The divisive Marouane Fellaini, who continues to provide much debate to United fans over whether he should remain at the club.
Signed from Everton in the summer of 2013 for £27.5m, Fellaini is now in his fourth season at United and is serving under his fourth manager in that time too, Portuguese boss Jose Mourinho. Although this season has seen him make his 100th appearance for United – against former club Everton – and he’s also signed an extension to his contract to keep him at Old Trafford until the end of next season, speculation still surrounds his future.
For me, United would be better off dispensing of the Belgian, and here are five reasons why.
#1 The fans don’t really like him
It’s harsh to say this, but Fellaini isn’t exactly a popular figure amongst the United fanbase. As the most successful English club of the last two decades, United’s fans are used to having nothing but the best players amongst the ranks, and for them, Fellaini just doesn’t fit that image. Not when he’s surrounded by superstars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Juan Mata, and up-and-comers like Marcus Rashford.
Part of the problem with Fellaini may be the fact that he’s so intrinsically linked with the disastrous David Moyes regime at United, which didn’t even last a full season in the end.
While United were linked to all sorts of players in Moyes’ first season in charge, Fellaini – a man who’d served under Moyes at Everton – turned out to be the club’s major signing that summer. He just wasn’t the sort of marquee player the fans wanted and so it was always going to be an uphill struggle for him.
Against former club Everton earlier in the season, Fellaini came on as a substitute, and within two minutes of being on the pitch he’d given away a penalty and allowed the Toffees to escape with a 1-1 draw. The gaffe saw him viciously booed by his own fans and there was even a petition put together on Change.org to encourage United to get rid of the Belgian. If his own fans don’t want him, then why should Mourinho keep him?