Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho reiterated the belief that he will only sign one player before the transfer deadline, despite his demands for two.
Mourinho has cut a frustrated figure during the pre-season tour of the United States, where the Red Devils have failed to impress without a number of their World Cup stars.
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United’s lack of transfer activity following the big-money arrival of Fred and Portuguese teenager Diogo Dalot has been the source of Mourinho’s discontent after the disgruntled tactician provided the club with a list of five targets months ago.
Leicester City defender Harry Maguire, Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld, Chelsea star Willian and Inter winger Ivan Perisic have been linked with moves to Old Trafford as United try to dethrone Premier League champions Manchester City.
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Asked if he was confident of signing two players before the window closes prior to the start of the season, Mourinho told beIN SPORTS: ‘No. I’m confident I’ll get one.
‘I think two is not what I will get. I think in every pre-season it happens basically the same with probably every club, which the manager wants more. It is our nature and our way to always want more for your team.
‘But club decisions are different. Normally you don’t get what you want which basically happened throughout my career. If I sign one player before the window closes, that’s fine.’
‘More or less, I know. It’s not going to be very different,’ Mourinho said when asked if he knew his best starting XI, with Nemanja Matic and Antonio Valencia facing time on the sidelines.
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‘We basically have the same players. The players we have bought one is a goalkeeper cover [Lee Grant], one is a 19-year-old kid, so in fact, we have one new player which is Fred, so of course, our team is not going to be very different.’
United open their Premier League campaign against Leicester on 10 August and Mourinho’s preparations have been hampered by injuries and the absence of stars like Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard following the World Cup.