Jose numbers don’t stack up and he won’t catch Pep with more quick-fix signings
WHEN Jose Mourinho was interviewed for the manager’s job at Manchester United, his hard sell to Ed Woodward was that he was the only man capable of beating Pep Guardiola. Twenty months on, it looks like an empty promise. Manchester City lead the Premier League by 15 points and Guardiola is on course to shatter records after transforming a squad that required just as much rebuilding as the one Mourinho inherited from Louis van Gaal in the summer of 2016. Despite Mourinho’s protests that the £314million he has been allowed to spend on new players is not enough when compared with City’s spending, the Portuguese’s numbers don’t add up. In the same time, City have indeed invested £100m more in the transfer market than their Mancunian rivals. But when sales of both clubs are also taken into account, that deficit is cut to less than £40m. Or about half the price of Romelu Lukaku. Liverpool’s £75m New Year capture of Virgil van Dijk means Jurgen Klopp has a net spend of £104m in the time that Mourinho has been at Old Trafford. Next come Arsenal on £72m and Spurs and Chelsea both on £25m. And Guardiola has also taken a squad that was one of the oldest in the Premier League and made it younger than United’s. In the summer of 2016, Manuel Pellegrini left behind no fewer than 12 players aged 30 or over. Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Aleksandar Kolarov, Jesus Navas, Martin Demichelis, and Richard Wright have all since departed, as well as big earners including Samir Nasri and Wilfried Bony. That process will continue in the summer. Yaya Toure and Joe Hart will be out of contract, while decisions on the futures of Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and Claudio Bravo also need to be taken. It could be that David Silva, Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi will be the only 30-somethings at the club next season. United, in contrast, had only five over-30s in the squad when Mourinho arrived. Two of them – Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young – will still be at Old Trafford next summer as they have been consistent performers.
Mourinho’s method has been to spend record sums on proven stars to provide a quick fix.
Lukaku cost £75m and Paul Pogba a world-record £90m, while big money was also spent on Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Another £365,000 a week has been spent on 36-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s wages.
United’s recruitment policy has brought mixed results. A comparison of what the players of both Manchester clubs would now be worth on the open market wouldn’t be favourable to United either.
When Mourinho’s first season at Old Trafford realised the Europa League and League Cup, his failure to finish higher than sixth was accepted.
Yet when Mourinho and Guardiola both arrived in Manchester, the only thing separating the two clubs in the Premier League was City’s superior goal difference.
It was City’s capture of Guardiola that forced United’s hand over Mourinho.
The Portuguese beat his Catalan nemesis to the La Liga in 2012 – the only time prior to Guardiola’s arrival in England that he had failed to land the title.
The experience played a part in prompting Guardiola to quit Barcelona to take a 12-month sabbatical.
So when Mourinho told the Old Trafford hierarchy that he was the antidote to City’s new manager, his could back up his claim with compelling evidence.
Now, just a few weeks after it seemed the title race was going to be a battle of Mancunian wills, United find themselves locked in a fight just to finish in the top four with Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal.
If Mourinho’s own argument about finances is anything to go by, failure to qualify for the Champions League would be damning.
Guardiola has taken a squad that was one of the oldest in the Prem and made it younger than United’s