By John O’Leary
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is apparently set to demand greater financial backing from the club’s board amid interest from Paris Saint Germain, an outfit rich with oil money.
Since he succeeded Louis van Gaal less than 18 months ago, United have broken the world transfer fee record in signing Paul Pogba for £89 million, snapped up Romelu Lukaku for £75 million and spent a fortune on the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof.
Yet it still does not seem to be enough for Mourinho, who watched his side lose 1-0 to his former club Chelsea on Sunday. That left them eight points behind runaway league leaders Manchester City, and the Red Devils now drifting all the way out to league title odds of just 20/1.
If you fancy them to pull off a shock comeback, check a sportsbook like Betonline before wagering to get the most competitive odds available, because 20/1 looks like a great price. However, right now it looks extremely unlikely that United will claw themselves back into the title race as City are simply running away with it. Pep Guardiola has been at City for as long as Mourinho has been at United, and he has spent a similar amount of money, but his team have really clicked, unlike United, who finished sixth last season and are starting to falter again this time around. The Old Trafford outfit has taken just four points from their last four games.
Mourinho believes that throwing money at the problem will solve it, and he’s been buoyed by PSG’s interest. During a recent interview with French television station Telefoot Mourinho hailed Paris as “special.” He said: “The other day my son, who lives in London, went to Paris and not to Manchester to watch the match. At the moment in Paris there is something special. Magic, quality, youth – it’s fantastic.”
There ought to be, given the vast sums of money PSG’s Qatari owners have splashed out.
The French powerhouse broke the world record to sign Neymar this summer. They actually more than doubled it as their £200 million outlay made the £89 million United spent on Paul Pogba look like small change. They will spend well north of £100 million to conclude the deal that has taken Kylian Mbappe to the Parc des Princes, and it has allowed them to assemble arguably the most feared attacking triumvirate in world football: Neymar, Mbappe and Edinson Cavani. This has resulted in supremely talented stars like Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler and Javier Pastore being unable to even get into the team.
Most managers would jump at the chance to manage such an exciting group of players, but it goes against everything Mourinho this summer said about hoping to remain in charge at United for the next 15 years, in a bid to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson’s long-term success.
Mourinho has always seemed like a mercenary, pitching up at rich clubs for a few years, bleeding them dry, winning trophies and leaving them with a washed up, aging squad as he moves onto the next intriguing project. The only difference if he were to leave United now would be that he would leave without a league title to his name.
He won titles everywhere he went beforehand – Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter and Real Madrid – and if he were to leave now, you could not really brand his time at United a success. The Europa League, the league cup and a sixth placed finish is not the stuff of greatness.
In truth he is unlikely to walk away just now. It could just be posturing as he seeks to pressure United into spending more on the squad. He wanted a creative player this summer, and did not get one, so he could also be getting his excuses in early. United fans might not appreciate these high stakes games, but if it means United eventually spend money on players at a level similar to PSG, then it might all work out for the best.