New brooms tend to sweep clean at football clubs, and with the season now just days away and the transfer window three weeks from being shut, there are a number of Premier League players with uncertain futures. ESPN FC selects 10 of them.
Juan Mata | M | 28 | Manchester United
Jose Mourinho's substitution on Sunday of a substitute he once shipped out of Chelsea was explained away as a measure to counter the aerial threat of Leicester City as Manchester United attempted to hang onto their 2-1 lead. That Henrikh Mkhitaryan, hardly a man mountain, was Mata's replacement brought that into question. United insiders suggest Mata's future is not yet decided, but having spent £157.25 million this summer, Mata looks an asset to be cashed in.
Christian Benteke | F | 25 | Liverpool
The summer additions of Sadio Mane from Southampton and Georginio Wijnaldum from Newcastle show the direction in which Jurgen Klopp is taking Liverpool: quick, attacking midfielders to hit opponents on the counter and defend from the front. That would appear to make a target man obsolete, and last summer's £32.5m buy is on the market. A link with Crystal Palace looks Benteke's most likely escape from a wasted year on Merseyside.
Eliaquim Mangala | D | 25 | Manchester City
When news of John Stones's arrival seeped through after Manchester City's Champions League qualifier squad was announced with his name on it, Mangala's Eastlands future was laid bare. He cost the club £42m two years ago, just £5.5m less than the fee reportedly paid out to Everton for Stones. Manuel Pellegrini never got a tune out of him, and it seems Pep Guardiola has not been impressed with Mangala in training. He looks likely to be cashed in at a huge loss.
Nabil Bentaleb | M | 21 | Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino takes a hardline attitude to those he views as surplus to requirements. The Algerian is still just 21 but dropped out of the central midfield reckoning last season behind Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele. The arrival of Victor Wanyama would seem to seal his fate. A loan move to Benfica has been mooted, as has a transfer to Juventus to replace Paul Pogba, and Tottenham will be, as ever, keen to drive a hard bargain.
Bastian Schweinsteiger | M | 32 | Manchester United
Mourinho has made himself very unpopular in Germany with his excommunication of the former national captain, but there appears no going back on his decision to banish Schweinsteiger from Man United's first team. For all the use "Schweini" is to United now, he may as well have been in Rio cheering on new wife Ana Ivanovic's failed attempt to win Olympic tennis gold. Louis van Gaal landed Schweinsteiger at a budget price of £6.5m and any takers now would probably expect to pay less.
Samir Nasri | M | 29 | Manchester City
Just like Mangala, Jesus Navas and Wilfried Bony -- three failed Pellegrini signings -- Nasri, after five years at City, is headed for the exit. Perhaps the surprise is that the Frenchman lasted this long, since he never quite established himself, despite the odd flourish of his undoubted potential. Turning up at preseason over the weight that Guardiola would like him at did not help his prospects and neither may not have some unseemly headlines about his summer holidays. Nasri is reportedly training alone on the Etihad Campus.
Phil Jagielka | D | 33 | Everton
The departures of Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman as their contracts expired this summer suggest that time waits for no man at the new Everton, and fellow veteran Jagielka might be the next of the old guard out. Ashley Williams is coming into central defence just as Stones leaves, while Sunderland's Lamine Kone is being targeted. Moyes and Sunderland may offer refuge; Jagielka was given the Everton captaincy by the Scot. At 33, it looks by far the best possible option.
Mario Balotelli | F | 25 | Liverpool
When it comes to being unwanted, nobody on this list matches the level of exile that Balotelli finds himself in. Klopp has never included the Italian maverick in his plans and any return to AC Milan is out after a disappointing loan spell back at San Siro last season. After Besiktas admitted they could not afford him, Chievo looks a possible destination, though again finances look prohibitive. Balotelli has two seasons left on his Liverpool contract.
Adnan Januzaj | M | 21 | Manchester United
Former United manager Moyes once said that Januzaj reminded him of Johan Cruyff, though the chances of the Belgian international revolutionising European football seem somewhat remote, even if he is just 21. Poor attitudes to training are reported to have irked Mourinho, and Januzaj has been banished with Schweinsteiger to the youth ranks. Last year's loan at Borussia Dortmund was a dud, and Januzaj is at a crossroads. Another loan looks likely. Perhaps Moyes' Sunderland might fancy.
Diafra Sakho | F | 26 | West Ham United
The collapse of last week's transfer to West Brom because of a failed medical left the Senegalese striker in limbo. Having asked to leave the Hammers earlier in the summer, that £16m deal dying has left him with no place to turn to other than to try and win back the faith of manager Slaven Bilic. An olive branch was offered last week. "I am a bit sorry for him and a bit surprised that he didn't pass the medical," Bilic said last Thursday. "He's a good player, he's our player."
