Manchester United face Bournemouth on Saturday lunchtime looking to continue their mini-revival after recording seven points from their last three Premier League matches.
However, it looks like Jose Mourinho may have excluded a high-profile player from his squad, with the Manchester Evening News reporting that goal-shy Romelu Lukaku was not spotted at Manchester Airport for Friday’s flight down to the south coast.
Mourinho surprisingly dropped the Belgian from United’s starting line-up for the 2-1 victory over Everton last weekend, as the striker instead came off the bench in the 65th minute of the game, when his side were already two goals up.
It’s now possible that Lukaku may well have been completely left out of the matchday squad for the upcoming Cherries clash, while the MEN also claims that there was also no sign of Marcos Rojo at the airport, whereas Diogo Dalot, Antonio Valencia and Marouane Fellaini were not seen either, although Mourinho confirmed in his press conference that the trio would not be taking part in the match.
In the same press conference Mourinho was asked why Lukaku had to settle for a place on the bench in the club’s last outing.
“The reason is he is playing lots of matches and lately, not just not scoring goals, but also not showing lots of confidence," said Mourinho.
"Sometimes we decide that the best thing for the players is to not be on the pitch, to be protected and away from the initial pressure."
Lukaku has come under fire after failing to find the back of the net in any of his last nine league and cup matches for United, dating back to the 2-1 victory over Watford in mid-September.
