Jose Mourinho, the Manchester United manager, is prepared to cash in on Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo in a bid to bring in a new centre-half in January but the club and Alexis Sanchez fear they are stuck with each other.

Mourinho’s continuing battles came as Nicky Butt, the head of United’s academy, admitted the comprehensive 3-1 derby defeat to Manchester City on Sunday had provided another chilling reminder of just how far behind their local rivals the club had fallen.

The loss left United languishing in eighth, 12 points behind leaders City, seven adrift of the top four and with a negative goal difference, and Butt, a member of United’s 1998/99 treble winning side, left Mourinho and the club’s hierarchy under no illusions about the challenges they face going forward.

“I think every now and again you come up against a team that are too good for you,” Butt told the international player care conference in London on Monday in a candid admission about City’s supremacy. “Every now and again you have got to hold your hands up and say they are a better team than us, better players than us, too good for every team in the Premier League to be honest, and they are as good as any team in Europe.