Jose Mourinho dropped a major hint on Friday that Henrikh Mkhitaryan could leave Manchester United in the January transfer window.

Mkhitaryan, despite making a blistering start to the 2017/18 Premier League season, has struggled for minutes of late and hasn't started a game since the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in November.

So when Mourinho was asked if anyone could leave next month, the Portuguese said any unhappy players will be sold if the price is right.

"I think, for the right price," said Mourinho. "That's my approach as a manager, in cases where the club advises me. Every player has a price.

"If a player is not happy, if a player brings with him the request with the number that we consider a good number for us, like it happened with Memphis [Depay] and Morgan [Schneiderlin], I would never say no."

There are rumours Mourinho will use Mkhitaryan as a bargaining chip in January to sign one of his top targets.

Mesut Ozil and Antoine Griezmann are both on the United manager's radar, for example, and including Mkhitaryan in any deal could be key.

Quite what's happened to the Armenian at Old Trafford has remained largely unknown but now The Sun have provided some interesting insight.

Neil Curtis claims Mourinho was unhappy with Mkhitaryan's defensive input during the 1-0 win over Brighton last month, which he only played 19 minutes of.

Mourinho slammed Mkhitaryan in front of United's squad in a video session which, as you would expect, infuriated the 28-year-old.

Mkhitaryan reacted by arguing back and it eventually turned into a heated row, even continuing when the session had ended.

It's for this reason Mkhitaryan hasn't played for United since and now his future at the club appears to be over - providing a big enough bid is received.

Signed for £30 million in 2016, Mkhitaryan remains one of the world's finest playmakers and so wouldn't be short of potential suitors.