Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho's clipboard notes hint at possible line-ups and formations

The Portuguese appeared to reveal his squad pecking order in a photograh on Tuesday

Mourinho on the training pitch at United's Shanghai base (Getty)

Jose Mourinho has offered yet another potential preview of how his Manchester United team could line-up after being photographed holding notes during a training session.

The Portugese is currently in China on the club’s pre-season tour, preparing for friendlies against Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City.

Matile Mourinho, his wife, appeared to leak a rudimental squad pecking order on Tuesday, when she uploaded a photo of her husband to social media.

On Wednesday, two further line-ups could be seen on Mourinho’s clipboard during a training session at United’s tour base in Shanghai.

The selections are likely to relate to a training match rather than Mourinho’s intentions for the forthcoming season, given their context, varying quality and lack of goalkeepers.

Nevertheless, Mourinho revealed some intriguing selections, not least the deployment of the academy graduate Axel Tuanzebe at right-back.

Tuanzebe, who naturally operates in the centre of defence, is a highly-rated 18-year-old on the cusp of breaking into United’s first team.

Mourinho's notes appear to reveal two training match line-ups (Getty)

The youngster is joined by Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo in the first defensive line-up, with Paddy McNair and Andreas Pereira in front of them in midfield.

Ashley Young and Adnan Januzaj take their places on the flanks, while Wayne Rooney operates behind lone striker Marcus Rashford.

In the second line-up, Daley Blind, Eric Bailly and Antonio Valencia are at the back, with the name in the left-back position obscured.

Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera make up the midfield’s double pivot, while Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are on the left and right wings respectively.

Juan Mata sits ‘in the hole’ behind Memphis Depay, who was used as a striker on occasion by Louis van Gaal, Mourinho’s predecessor.

Intriguingly, both line-ups revealed on Wednesday employ a 4-2-3-1 formation rather than Mourinho's favoured 4-3-3.