‘If I don’t make them rich kids, they will leave’
JOSE MOURINHO says if Manchester United had not given Jesse Lingard a £20million contract, the attacking midfielder would have quit the club.
Eyebrows have been raised at United’s decision to give squad player Lingard, who has scored only once in the Premier League this season, a lucrative new four-year deal which, with Champions League bonuses, is understood to be worth up to £100,000 a week. It renewed the debate about whether young players receive too much too young, with the fear it can cause them to lose their hunger.
But Mourinho defended United’s decision and said he was convinced the 24-year-old Lingard, who has been connected with the club since he was seven, would not veer off track because he had a fortune in the bank.
In fact, he argued that financial security gives players the platform to take their careers to greater heights.
“First of all, if you don’t pay, they go,” said Mourinho. “So we can be criticised for paying so much, but we would also be criticised if we lost a young English player made in our academy. The club and player tried to find a situation that made everyone happy.
“But I know what you mean. One of Manchester United’s great players was telling me the other day that he was rich at the end of his career and now these kids are rich when they start their careers. That’s simple and that’s obvious.
“They need to be lucky to be surrounded by the right people. If you are rich, that does not mean you don’t keep motivation high, personal pride high, professionalism high.
“If they accept that financial situation in the right way, it gives you stability, comfort. Comfort gives you better conditions to become a top professional player, so it’s just a question of using that financial situation in the right way.”
Mourinho said there were several factors that convinced him to keep Lingard: his potential to improve, that he is English and ‘home-grown’ and that he provides another example of how the club have traditionally provided a pathway to the first team for their academy youngsters
He said: “He is a good player already but, because of his age and happiness in the work, he can be even better.
“He is made in the academy here and these players are very important for clubs. And it gives me stability because it’s important to know he is not in danger of leaving.”
Despite his huge contract, Lingard is one of the attacking players at United Mourinho admits “doesn’t love the goal”.
Assessing the reasons why United are on course for their lowest goals tally in the Premier League era – they have only 43 in 29 matches – Mourinho said he wished he still had goal-poacher Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, who was allowed to leave by Louis van Gaal. “We have some players who are not really in love with the goal,” he said. “They are good players, are creative players, but naturally they are not the kind of guy that is a killer.
“I’ll give you an example. With the way we dominated and play in the box, Chicharito would have 20 goals easy.”
United will be looking to make a bad week for former manager David Moyes a whole lot worse tomorrow.
As well as defeats by Watford and Leicester, the Sunderland boss has had to deal with ‘Slapgate’ after finding himself accused of being a bully and a sexist following his threats to a female reporter at the end of an interview.
Moyes said: “You have hard weeks. If we were winning, everything would be easier. People who aren’t winning are the ones who are struggling – and we’re struggling.”