Jose battles midfield conundrum
JOSE Mourinho faces the prospect of having to take his third-choice midfield target – Nemanja Matic – in what is already proving to be a frustrating summer for the Manchester United manager.
The Daily Telegraph understands that Eric Dier, of Tottenham Hotspur, and Roma’s Radja Nainggolan were Mourinho’s first- and second-choice picks in midfield, but United have made little progress on either.
United are more confident over Matic, who has so far refused to sign a new Chelsea contract and is set to face increased competition at Stamford Bridge with the anticipated arrival of Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco.
Chelsea would rather not sell Matic, but will have to listen to an offer in the region of £40-million (about R650-million) for a player whose contract expires in two years and turns 29 on August 1.
Although they would prefer not to provide a solution for a rival, Chelsea stand to make a £5-million (R82-million) profit on the signing of 22-year-old Bakayoko for £35- million (R580-million) and the departure of Matic.
United are waiting for Chelsea to complete the signing of Bakayoko from Monaco before making their move for Matic, but are aware the Serb is interested in heading to Old Trafford.
Chelsea have been attempting to negotiate a new contract with Matic for the past 18 months, but have failed to find an agreement with the former Benfica player.
It was Mourinho who instructed Chelsea to re-sign Matic in January 2014 and that transfer was crucial to the club’s Premier League title success the following season. But Matic was among Chelsea’s worst performers in Mourinho’s doomed third season of his second spell and the Portuguese had to defend himself against accusations of humiliating the player after substituting him 27 minutes after he had come off the bench in the 3-1 home defeat by Southampton.
The fact that Mourinho looks set to be reunited with Matic, having wanted Dier and Nainggolan ahead of him, underlines the difficult summer United are enduring. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy values Dier at over £50-million (R800-million), while sources close to Nainggolan rate the chances of the Belgian leaving Roma for United as “highly doubtful”.
United believed they had virtually clinched the signing of Atlético Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann before the 26year-old decided to remain in Spain, while another of Mourinho’s targets, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, prefers a move to Chelsea.
United have signed defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica, but Mourinho had been hoping for greater progress on his top targets at this point in the summer.
United have distanced themselves from reports linking them with Monaco’s Fabinho, but did make a check on Bakayoko before finding out that he wants to join Chelsea. The Blues expect to sign both Bakayoko and Alex Sandro, even though Juventus are holding out for a worldrecord fee for a defender of around £60million (R990-billion) for the left-back.
There is rival interest from abroad in Sandro, but Chelsea are leading the chase for his signature. — The Daily Telegraph