Jose Mourinho has cast more doubt over Juan Mata's Manchester United future after subbing the midfielder less than half an hour after brining him on.
The Spaniard replaced Jesse Lingard during Sunday's Community Shield win over Leicester at Wembley , only to be hauled off late on for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Boss Jose Mourinho attempted to justify his decision by claiming he needed height in defence to deal with the Foxes' late aerial onslaught.
However, summer signing Mkhitaryan is just an inch taller than Mata at 5ft 8in.
"I did something that was not nice to do which was take off Mata in the last minute – now he understands what I do, he’s fine," said Mourinho after the game.
“I couldn’t take off Fellaini or Ibra. Fellaini and Ibra they were very important to be on the pitch for Rory Delap’s throw-ins, and we want to win the game.
“The rules allow six changes, I had made five and I wanted to stop the game.
In pictures - Leicester 1-2 Manchester United:
“I need to take off the smallest player because we were expecting a lot of long balls. He is the smallest one.
“But I think he played very well. He gave me exactly what I needed. We want to win and everyone is happy in the end.”