In his fascinating first press conference at Manchester United, Jose Mourinho didn’t mince his words and he gave some real insights into what is going on behind the scenes at Old Trafford this summer.
FOUR PRIORITIES
When asked how his transfer plans were shaping up Mourinho said:
‘I think (looks to his Press Officer) the third player is already official? No. So the third player will be official when? Soon.
I can try to make you understand the profile. We made a nucleus of four priorities. Four positions priorities to give a certain balance to the squad to give a certain push in terms of quality and the qualities that I need, that I want.
As you know I am more a manager that likes specialists and not so much the multifunctional players, because I am very clear in my approach.
We decided four targets. From these targets we have (refers to his press officer again and ignores her suggestion that only two signings are official) three.’
Until we don’t have the fourth we are still working hard.
We are not going to get the fourth on August 31st. No way. We are going to get the fourth before that.’
The first two are of course Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose contract at PSG ended this summer, and Eric Bailly from Villareal.
And it is well known that Manchester United are about to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund.
The fourth is more interesting. TFF would suggest that the fourth addition would either be a central midfielder or a centre back.
Jose Mourinho also mentioned that he expects to use Wayne Rooney in a more attacking role than in recent games so perhaps we should expect a midfielder to be the fourth major purchase.
Paul Pogba is the name that has been persistently linked to Manchester United this summer and although he will be an extremely difficult player to re-sign, with Real Madrid also in the hunt, this may be the number one priority for United now.
But that would leave some to question whether the centre of defence is strong enough for the new season.
But Jose does have a fit again Phil Jones to play along side Chris Smalling. Beyond that there is Daley Blind, Paddy McNair and Marcos Rojo who TFF still believes would be a top centre back.
What seems almost certain now is that it’s going to be a great ride for Manchester United fans over the next few years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbUkgtJaiGQ