Mourinho makes startling Man Utd admission over Fellaini

Jose Mourinho admits he is delighted to have Marouane Fellaini at Manchester United, having underlined exactly how important he is to his side.

United begin their Champions League adventure with a home clash against Swiss champions FC Basel, and Mourinho is not expecting an easy match.

The Portuguese, however, is boosted by the likely return of Fellaini – a divisive figure whose midfield presence was missed in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Stoke.

The re-occurrence of a calf complaint sustained on international duty was behind his absence and appeared to grate on Mourinho as Fellaini played Belgium’s match against Greece despite the issue rearing its head beforehand.

The 29-year-old missed training on Sunday but returned to the group on Monday, when Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young were among others in action on their return from long-term injuries.

“He’s a very important player for me – much more important than what you can imagine,” Mourinho said. “I feel weaker without Fellaini in my squad.

“It doesn’t matter if it is on the pitch or if it is on the bench, so if his conditions improved he will be selected because I need him. But in this moment I cannot say yet.”

David De Gea will start ahead of Sergio Romero in goal, while Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof will come in for suspended Phil Jones and Eric Bailly.

“It is not an opportunity, it is just normal,” Mourinho said of his centre-back changes. “I don’t think Bailly and Jones are better than them. I think they are the same level, they are just different players.

“Even if Jones and Bailly were not suspended, probably I would still play Lindelof and Smalling tomorrow because for me they are the same level. It is just a question of option.”