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07th May 2017

Jose Mourinho set to hand full debut to Man United youngster against Arsenal

Mourinho rates him highly

JOE

Jose Mourinho admitted last week that the league may not be his priority as his Manchester United side look to seal Champions League football for next season.

With a 1-0 first leg lead over Celta Vigo, United will hope to make it to the Europa League final on Thursday night when the Spanish side visit Old Trafford for the return. A win in that competition will be enough to see them return to Europe’s premier cup competition regardless of where they finish in the league.

With that, securing a win against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon perhaps isn’t as important as it might have been and Mourinho is expected to rest several players after their hectic April schedule.

One of the players to be rested is expected to be Eric Bailly who, as recently as last week, was one of only two United first team players to have played first team football.

Although Chris Smalling has returned and Phil Jones is now back in training, Mourinho is expected to hand a youngster Axel Tuanzebe his full United debut. The Congolese-born 19-year-old, who has spent his entire youth career with United, has impressed Mourinho during his time at Old Trafford.

Now, according to reports, the youngster could start the game either at full back or in the middle of United’s defence.