NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Mourinho writes off title hopes
JOSE MOURINHO has suggested his Manchester United squad is not good enough to win the Premier League title.
He believes United are two players short of being good enough to challenge champions Manchester City. While Liverpool have spent £175million on their squad this summer, United’s only notable outlay has been £52m on midfielder Fred.
Mourinho is becoming frustrated at United’s failure to bring in the players he wants. Top of his wishlist are England World Cup star and
Leicester defender Harry Maguire, and Inter Milan and Croatia winger Ivan Perisic.
Likely to cost a combined £130m, Mourinho wants deals wrapped up soon.
Asked if his current personnel were good enough to challenge for the title, Mourinho said: “I don’t answer to your question.”
When asked how many new signings he felt he needed, Mourinho said: “I would get two more.”
Mourinho is wound up about the fact that United have so far only made three signings this summer – Fred, Diogo Dalot and reserve keeper Lee Grant – while Liverpool have splashed out £175m in a bid to turn themselves into title contenders.
Already without 10 first-team players, including Paul Pogba and United’s England contingent, who remain on breaks following their exploits in Russia, the failure to land his top transfer targets with just a fortnight of the window to go has compounded Mourinho’s annoyance. “If you look to the players that Chelsea have in pre-season, you see the difference,” he said ahead of tonight’s friendly against AC Milan.
“Our first match of the season is against Leicester and only Harry Maguire and Jamie Vardy were in the World Cup in the final phase – Kasper Schmeichel was back sooner. It’s a better situation for them.
“For the first two matches we have to fight for the points, so that’s what we are going to do with the players available.”
Asked if he felt he was getting everything he wanted out of United’s US tour, Mourinho said: “No. I’m happy with the matches. But I don’t have the majority of the players that are going to be in the squad when the market closes and we can make the squad official for the season.”
To listen to Mourinho, you would not think that United can finally launch a title push after their five years of struggles, with the manager casting a shadow over what should be a season of huge promise.
We have to fight for the points