For every player we sign, City can afford to buy two
I’ve not forgotten Klopp dig SAYS MAN UNITED BOSS JOSE MOURINHO
JOSE MOURINHO has accused Jurgen Klopp of being a hypocrite after he splashed £75m on Virgil van Dijk. The Anfield boss took a pop at big-spending clubs in 2016 and insisted he would never commit huge amounts at Liverpool – even if he could. Klopp’s jibe was aimed at Manchester United boss Mourinho (top), who was in the process of landing Paul Pogba from Juventus in a £90m deal. Now the German has spent £15m less on Southampton’s Van Dijk to make him the most
expensive defender in history.
Mourinho has not forgotten Klopp’s dig and says his rival manager needs to practise what he preaches.
The United boss said: “You know, I think the one that speaks about it in a specific way has to be Jurgen.
“And if I was one of you, I would ask him about his comments about one year ago.
“But I’m not speaking specifically about that case because in Liverpool they do what they want and I am nobody to comment on what they do.
“The reality is that if they think that the player is the right player for them and they really want the player, they pay this amount or they don’t have the player, because that is the way the market is at that time.”
Blasting
Mourinho, meanwhile, has admitted for the first time that United’s misfiring striker Romelu Lukaku needs a rest – but won’t be given one.
The Belgian hitman has scored just four goals in 19 games after blasting 11 in his first 10 matches for United following his £90m switch from Everton during the summer.
Lukaku has played in every minute of United’s Premier League campaign and Mourinho will pick him to face Southampton at Old Trafford this evening.
He added: “For a striker to play 20 matches in the Premier League, 90 minutes, I have to be grateful for his personality and character.
“The guy is fantastic for me and for the team and gives absolutely everything and I’ve no criticism. But no, I cannot rest him.”
JOSE MOURINHO claims Pep Guardiola is strolling to the title with Manchester City because he has unlimited funds at his disposal.
In the wake of last week’s scrappy 2-2 home draw against Burnley, Mourinho said Manchester United needed to splash the cash even more to keep pace with their neighbours.
This is despite United landing Paul Pogba in a club record £90m deal in Mourinho’s first summer in charge.
United followed this with another £90m spend on Romelu Lukaku 12 months later, with Mourinho having splashed out almost £300m since replacing Louis van Gaal in 2016.
But Mourinho insists he is not taking a swipe at Old Trafford bosses and has been misinterpreted.
He reckons the difference between him and Guardiola is that Manchester City can buy as many new players as they want, while he has to sign replacements in the same position.
Mourinho, whose side host Southampton today, said: “I have the backing of the club, and the first backing of the club I had was a three-year contract when everybody knows the job was not easy.
“We all know we invested a lot, so when you invest as much as we did, it wouldn’t be very fair of me to say the club didn’t support, didn’t want to help, doesn’t want to win.
“The club invested a lot of money. The problem is not the money we invest, the problem is the money the others invest.
“And it’s the problem that others with better squads, with better stability, with more options, they keep investing and that is the only problem. For example, we bought a striker in the summer, a very good striker, but that good striker was to replace Zlatan (Ibrahimovic).
“We signed Victor Lindelof. We didn’t have Marcos Rojo, we had problems, so when we are signing players it’s to replace people.
“If next summer we are going to sign a midfield player, it will be to replace Michael Carrick. Michael is a phenomenal player who this season could give us nothing at all.
Noises
“He’s in the end of his career. If next summer we buy a midfield player, it’s not to improve our squad, it’s to replace Michael Carrick, so to improve our squad in midfield we would need to buy two.”
Mourinho admits money talks more than ever in the Premier League and that it enables Guardiola to make all the right noises.
The United boss added: “Without taking any credit away from Manchester City and Pep and his staff and the players, obviously they have lots of credit in what they are doing. “But Pep arrived, he had the goalkeeper of England (Joe Hart), but he doesn’t like him, so he buys the goalkeeper of Barcelona (Claudio Bravo), but he doesn’t like him, so he buys another one (Ederson), and now he likes him. “He has Zabaleta and Kolarov, two very good players but more than 30 years old, that he wants to replace. “He doesn’t replace with two, he replaces with three. One from Tottenham (Kyle Walker), one from Monaco (Benjamin Mendy), and one from Real Madrid (Danilo), as an example. “Can we buy six, seven players at the same time, can we invest £600m, £700m? No, no, so it’s difficult. “The market is going in such a direction and you belong to one of these clubs where there is no limit and you buy what you want, there is no limit, no FFP, there is nothing, you do what you want. “I don’t want to take any credit from what they’re doing, not at all, but it’s difficult (to keep pace with them). “Money makes a difference. I remember my time from my first Chelsea period where everyone was saying money was making the difference. “I don’t think it’s changed. I think money makes a difference. But I ask you, please, don’t misinterpret my words. Don’t say my club doesn’t support or doesn’t want to spend. “I’m pretty sure next year the club is going to pay a lot of money for one player, but we are doing these things with some balance because it’s the profile of the club. We do it with some balance.”