Jose Mourinho has revealed Axel Tuanzebe is the only player he will "open the door" for to leave Manchester United.
The Red Devils are closing in on a deal for Alexis Sanchez , which could see Henrikh Mkhitaryan move in the opposite direction.
Mkhitaryan was left out of the win over Stoke and after the clash Mourinho admitted it wasn't a tactical decision, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Tuanzebe, 20, has made just one start this season and Championship club Aston Villa are interested in signing the England Under-21 international on loan until the end of the season.
United sold Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis a year ago before letting Bastian Schweinsteiger leave in March without reinforcing their squad and Mourinho was forced to promote Under-23 players as the injury list grew.
Mourinho suggested on Friday United would delay making a decision on Tuanzebe's future until the end of the January transfer window but on Monday night sounded more open to the possibility of Tuanzebe heading out on loan.
"I have a squad of 22 players and I want to keep squad of 22 players," Mourinho said. "Maybe just because I want to make the kid a good player and I'm not giving him the chances I'm giving to Scott McTominay, for example.
"Axel Tuanzebe plays in a position where I have so many players, today on the bench I had Marcos Rojo and Victor Lindelof, and Eric Bailly is still in recovery, so I'm not giving the chances to Axel.
"So probably Axel is the only one that I open the door for him to go and play because I believe he is a really good ta lent and he needs to play. Apart from that, the numbers we have, we are playing Champions League, FA Cup, Premier League, I have to keep the number of players we have.
"Is it possible he [Mkhitaryan]s going to be involved in the deal? It's possible. It's also possible he stays. I didn't select him (Mkhitaryan) today because I wanted players fully focused and I understand that with so much talk and so much speculation it is not easy for Mkhitaryan to play at home with this feeling, can happen, maybe doesn't happen.
"So I prefer to protect him and to protect the situation, and at the end of the transfer market if he stays here he is a very good player that season started this season very, very well and come a little bit down. But last season did amazing things for us, helped us to win the Europa League, being one of the most important players, so let's see what is going to happen.
"Is a pity the market closes on the 31st, maybe the market should close tomorrow and finish with everything."