Once again Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has sent a message to the club board, via one of his media opportunities. Mourinho is asking his bosses to allocate him more spending money in the transfer market. During the summer, this was a frequent talking point of Mourinho’s and he rehashed it again last night after United played extremely drab and lost a listless 1-0 decision to Juventus in the UEFA Champions League group stages.
Mourinho claims he hasn’t been given enough resources in the transfer market, despite the fact that the club has spent close to £387 million since he arrived in 2016.
Some of the more expensive players added during his tenure include midfielder Paul Pogba (a world record £89 million at the time), midfielder Fred (£53 million, who was benched for this match) and striker Romelu Lukaku (£75 million, and currently in his worst scoring drought, eight games, since joining the club).
With the other two summer transfer window additions (injured defender Diogo Dalot, third strong goalkeeper Lee Grant left out of the match day squad) also not active for the match, yes it is indisputable that Mourinho had a poor summer transfer window.
You got to give him that, but the idea that the haven’t spend enough money is just absurd! They have spent, just unintelligently.
The discussion began by Mourinho admitting that his side is in a tier well below their opponents on Tuesday, something that is pure sacrilege to any United supporter familiar with the side’s storied history.
“Since the draw, we knew it would be a fight with the Valencia for the second position,” Mourinho said as he conceded the idea of winning their Champions League group.
Last year, United achieved just that.
Mourinho then wondered what it would take to get United up to the levels of the elite.
“To go to the Juventus level? Barcelona level? Real Madrid level? How can you reach that level? Manchester City level? How can you reach this level?” he pondered.
A reply came. “Investment?”
“Yes,” Mourinho said.
“Juventus is champions for seven years, I think seven years in a row,” Mourinho told a news conference. “Two Champions League finals in the last four or five years and not happy with what they have.
“They want more, they want more. They had [Gonzalo] Higuain, [Mario] Mandzukic, [Paulo] Dybala, they want more. They want Ronaldo. They had [Andrea] Barzagli, [Giorgio] Chiellini, [Danieli] Rugani, they are not happy, they want more. They want Bonucci and they go for the best players in the world.”
“So a big, big club with a big past, but with also a big desire to have a big future and everything they put there to try to win, I don’t say the Champions League, I think to win the treble. That’s what they want because normally they win at home.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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