It’s no secret that Manchester United Manager Jose Mourinho wants to buy two more players this summer. It’s not a mystery what two positions of need he’s trying to fill either. Mourinho has the luxury of being a little bit transparent when discussing the summer transfer window because he knows that he has the power of (by many measures) the wealthiest club in the world behind him.
Of course, openly discussing your specific transfer targets only serves to drive up the price, so Mourinho refrains from that.
Between now and August 31, Mourinho seeks a holding/defensive midfielder as a long term replacement for Michael Carrick.
Obtaining this piece would truly optimize the investment in Paul Pogba, because then Mourinho could utilize the world’s most expensive player in a position more suitable to his talents. Old Trafford are also looking for an attacking winger, because Mourinho clearly isn’t fully satisfied and confident in what he has in that position group.
“I don’t know (the current situation), honestly I don’t know, Ed (Woodward, United Executive Vice President) is in control,” the United boss told his news conference previewing the international friendly against Barcelona tonight.
“He did Lindelof and Lukaku, he knows that I would like two more players but he also knows that I have balance, I depend on the situation, the market, and if my club is unable to do two players and just one, I accept that as a consequence of the market now.
“Our relationship is good and I just wait for good news, and he knows good news is to have the players, maybe just the (one) player as soon as possible because to work together with the team is really important.
“But I’m calm, I like my players, I like my squad, I trust them, so I’m calm and that’s important.”
“I would like one player (to be) a midfield player, (that) would give me more options to the balance and the team,” Mourinho continued.
“Another one an attacking player, especially that can play through the wings to give me more attacking options but I never speak about players that belong to other teams.
“Everybody speaks about the dimension of the investment at Man City but there is another team that I feel the dimension of their investment is also phenomenal – Tottenham,” Mourinho continued.
“Until now they spent zero pounds, right? They keep everybody they want to keep. They keep Dele Alli, [Harry] Kane and [Toby] Alderweireld, they keep Eric Dier, they keep everyone they want to keep.”
‘They sold Kyle Walker I think because they wanted to sell. And probably because they think Trippier is as good as Walker. And he’s younger than Walker.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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