Jose Mourinho wants to axe eight first-team players over the next two transfer windows as Manchester United continue through this prolonged transitional phase.

United’s Europa League chances took a big hit on Thursday evening as they fell 2-1 to Fenerbahce in Istanbul, to take Mourinho’s record at the club to five defeats in 17 games.

The troubles are even worse in the Premier League as they sit in eighth position, seven points adrift of the Champions League places, having only won one of their last seven league games.

The Red Devils gave failed to score in any of their last three league games going into Sunday’s game against Swansea.

Mourinho accused his players of treating the Fenerbahce loss like a pre-season friendly and believed they were not “mentally prepared”, “not focused” and “not concentrated”.

According to the Telegraph, Mourinho believes he underestimated the enormity of the task at hand and is ready to make extensive changes next year, starting in the January transfer window.

The bulk of United’s activity in the transfer market is expected to occur at the end of the season, but if there is a possibility to make some changes in January, Mourinho will make them.

Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin were signed together in 2015 (Getty)

Defenders Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian and Phil Jones will be among the eight allowed to leave the club, with the Portuguese desperate to reshape his defence.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to move to the MLS in January, while Morgan Schneiderlin will be shown the exit door along with Michael Carrick, who is out of contract at the end of the season.