Jose Mourinho was told by Manchester United that the club would only sign a world-class defender of the calibre of Real Madrid’s World Cup winner Raphael Varane rather than compromise with a lesser light, despite the manager’s demands otherwise.United would have paid £100 million for Varane but the World Cup winner was never available and as the options were put to them over the course of a transfer window there were too many good reasons to ignore them. It means they go into their first game against Leicester City at Old Trafford on Friday night without signing the centre-back Mourinho has asked for during pre-season.
The club believe they have delivered over the course of the last two windows on the agreed targets with around £73 million invested this window in Fred, Diogo Dalot and goalkeeper Lee Grant, as well as the £35 million cash committed for the fee for Alexis Sanchez in January.
It was around five hours before the deadline that United were linked with Atletico Madrid’s veteran Diego Godin, the club cited as having made an approach for the Uruguayan. In reality an intermediary had contacted United a few days earlier asking whether they would be interested in Godin. United said they were happy to be kept informed. The next and final conversation was the intermediary telling United that Godin has signed a new contract.
Yerry Mina was offered by Barcelona to United and a number of other clubs before the World Cup finals for €11m in an attempt by the Spanish champions to get their money back on a player they signed in January. Post-World Cup finals it was not the price being quoted for Mina but the structure of the agents’ fees being proposed that made the club uncomfortable. United felt paying them would set a damaging precedent set that could prove a problem in the future.
Mina was regarded by United as very far off the level that they wanted in a centre-back – and certainly not in the category of Varane. The Colombian’s standout performances at the World Cup finals, including England, marked him out as a specialist player, one for certain opponents whose threat would come in the air, but there were concerns about his all-round game.
The offer of signing Jerome Boateng, the 29-year-old Bayern Munich defender, was the easiest to reject. By United’s calculations he had simply missed too much football through injury over the last three years – playing no more than 19 league games in each season. United are wary of buying from Munich since their expensive misadventure with Bastian Schweinsteiger. To a lesser extent they feel that Owen Hargreaves also came to them in 2007 with the basis of what would become effectively a career-ending injury.
Harry Maguire was a genuine target although no progress was ever made with Leicester, and while it has proved impossible to change minds the softening of the club’s stance over time with Riyad Mahrez has given United some encouragement that it could be a long-term project. There was no offer made at any point for Toby Alderweireld at Tottenham Hotspur, another one whom United felt that in the long-term would not materially improve their five centre-back options.
How Mourinho reacts from now will be dictated to some extent by results but the key objectives at the turn of the year have all been fulfilled as far as the club are concerned. The signing of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk to give energy to the midfield, was a long-term project with serious negotiations starting in Kiev in February. Signing Sanchez when he became available was another. Mourinho wanted a third-choice homegrown eligible goalkeeper –Grant was signed. The United manager also wanted Marouane Fellaini re-signed on a new contract.
The centre-back discussion has only become an issue this summer, and the club have felt that the options open to them have not warranted the investment they would have required.
― Number None, Thursday, 9 August 2018 22:09 (five years ago) link