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Jose Mourinho has revealed he's banished Memphis Depay from his Manchester United plans because he understood the Dutch winger wanted to leave Old Trafford.

But the Reds boss insists if Memphis is still at the club after the January transfer window he's ready to give him a crack at re-establishing himself.

The 2015 £24m buy from PSV Eindhoven has only appeared eight times for United under Mourinho and has started just the one game in the EFL Cup tie at Northampton when he was subbed after 55 minutes.

The 22-year-old has not had any minutes since the Europa League match at home to Feyenoord in November and has been interesting Everton and suitors in Italy.

But Mourinho insists it is not gone sour for Louis van Gaal buy Memphis because of his arrival as LVG's successor.

“He was not playing last season. It was not that last season he was playing phenomenally and this season he is not playing at all. That’s not the situation,” said Mourinho.

“I have to say that in the past couple of months my decisions in relation to Memphis were influenced by the feelings and information that he would like to leave in January and that we were going to have a real offer that we would be willing to accept. That obviously influences me.

“If I know, if I have the feeling that a player is leaving - if I have to give chances and develop other players - then I go to (Jesse) Lingard, (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan, (Anthony) Martial, the players I know 100 per cent who are going to stay with us. It is a position where we have more options.”

Memphis has been more prominent on social media and in news pages than in a red shirt and this week was reported as allegedly smoking a shisha pipe while on holiday in Rotterdam.

“He’s a very good professional, is the only thing I can say. I know the public image is always influenced by some details of their private lives but the reality is that he is a very good professional, a very good boy,” added the United manager.

“He has a high level of education, super polite, super professional, and works really hard.

“But it’s a position where I have Martial, Mkhitaryan, Mata, Lingard plus Rooney and Rashford who can also play in this position. So we have six, seven players. When I have the feeling and information that the player probably has a big chance to leave then I have to care more about the others.

“But in January if nothing happens - and we have lots of matches - then if he is going to be my player until the end of the season I will help him and he will be useful for us.”

Asked if the winger had been in to ask to leave United, Mourinho replied: “We had this conversation with a few players and we left things very, very clear.

“The players who are not having many chances to play, we don’t have the right to stop them leaving. What we have is the power to say “no, I don’t accept this offer”. Until now - zero.”