Jose will face questions over Ronaldo move
SOME FANS AFFRONTED BY UNITED’S FAILURE TO RE-SIGN REDS HERO
JOSE Mourinho might try to avoid it, but next week he will restart media duties on United’s preseason tour and the questions are mounting.
What news - if any - is there on United’s transfer activity? Why did you not sign Cristiano Ronaldo? Do you think Anthony Martial will stay? How many more players do you want?
The reality is the Ronaldo finances made little sense for United, who could not rely on Chevrolet to foot the bill. Fiat funded Juventus’ audacious £99m deal for the 33-year-old.
Still, Mourinho signed and then re-signed a 30-something forward in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and, while you would hesitate to tell him in person, he is inferior to Ronaldo, who is also younger than Ibrahimovic was when he first signed.
A Ronaldo return was never likely under Mourinho and he was accurate in saying United no longer ‘wasted time’ in the transfer market. They have learnt from strolls down garden paths marked Cesc Fabregas, Gareth Bale, Neymar and, yes, Ronaldo.
But it does not wash with some United supporters, who are affronted by the club passing on the player of the century while he was available. They are seeking compensation and Willian, whose reputation is reeling from a variable World Cup, probably does not cut it. Neither would Toby Alderweireld.
That is not to say United should placate fans with a marquee purchase. They tried it with Juan Mata following four defeats in five and a League Cup semi-final elimination. Mata was the square peg jammed into a round hole by David Moyes and Angel di Maria was a worse Reds’ No.7 than Michael Owen.
Willian and Alderweireld would improve areas that need strengthening and United’s restraint over Ronaldo is admirable.
They have a lopsided attack with three specialist left-wingers.
Mourinho is in an identical position to the one he put Sir Alex Ferguson in 12 years ago – second best against a financially stronger opponent and conceding defeat in the league before May.
United at least avoided being bystanders at a Premier League party like they were to Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2006. Just like that World Cup summer, Ronaldo is at the centre of the storm. United fans fretted about his future amid the fall-out from Wayne Rooney’s quarter-final dismissal against Portugal and Ferguson had declared Ruud van Nistelrooy persona non grata. ‘Love United hate Glazer’ stickers decorated Old Trafford and season ticket holder Rob Smyth caustically wrote - with some justification - they were ‘run by a manager who shreds his legacy at every turn.’ David Gill promised ‘two world-class signings’ and the Reds bought in Michael Carrick and Tomasz Kuszczak, while they baulked at a joint deal for Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, ideal fits for a team deprived of Van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane. The punchline? United were top for all but two weeks of the season and became champions. The patience paid off. Samuel Luckhurst