Having lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Monday night, Manchester United will now be focused on claiming the Europa League, as well as finishing strong in the Premier League.
However, with manager Jose Mourinho having fixed the majority of the problems he faced with the side earlier in the season, the former Chelsea manager will undoubtedly have one eye on next term and the players that he will be looking to add.
With the Portuguese having given himself a solid base to move on from in his maiden campaign, merely challenging for the top four will not be deemed a success in his mind for his second season at the helm in the red half of Manchester.
Having gone all out in the transfer market last summer, with the additions of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mourinho must look to add carefully this summer in order to avoid disrupting the side he has spent so long tweaking this season.
One Old Trafford link which refuses to go away is that of Bayern Munich forward, Thomas Muller. The Germany international has seen his game time at the Allianz fall significantly under the guise of former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager Carlo Ancelotti, with the Red Devils reportedly having an £85m approach snubbed last summer.
Whilst Mourinho does have the creative talents of Juan Mata or Paul Pogba to sit in that No.10 role, he will undoubtedly be keen to work with Muller, who is supposedly also interested in the chance to work with the Special One.
Should a deal come to fruition over the summer, one pairing the Old Trafford faithful would more than be looking forward to is that of former Bundesliga adversaries, Muller and Mkhitaryan.
Last season, whilst the Armenian was still with Bayern’s rivals Borussia Dortmund, the pair both appeared in 31 Bundesliga games, and in terms of creative performances they were on par, with the now Manchester United man leading the way in terms of assists and key passes, whilst Muller was the better of the duo in terms of goals and pass completion, all in terms of their game-by-game average.
However, with Mkhitaryan having joined Mourinho in the Premier League, the needle has swung the way of the right-winger. The 28-year-old, a year older than the Bayern man, significantly leads the way in all categories bar assists per game, despite Muller having more time to get into the groove for Ancelotti’s side having played over 600 more minutes of league football.
Muller is supposedly unhappy with his game time in Germany and, should a move materialise, will be hoping that in joining Mourinho in English football, he could return to the form which saw him go toe-to-toe with Mkhitaryan last season. If anyone can bring that about, it’s more than likely to be the Manchester United manager.