Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is reportedly far from finished in the transfer market despite suggesting so in a press conference last week.
It’s been a busy summer for the Red Devils, with the Portuguese tactician splashing out on the likes of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly to rebuild the spine of the team.
While it appears to be paying early dividends with three wins in as many games to start the Premier League campaign, it looks as though Mourinho hasn’t yet completed his dealings in the summer window.
It comes despite the fact that he insisted that 23 players in his senior squad was a solid number that he felt he could work with, and so no more comings or goings would be taking place.
With just a couple of days to go until the deadline though, The Daily Record claim that Mourinho still wants to add Southampton captain Jose Fonte and Monaco full-back Fabinho to his squad.
The 32-year-old Euro 2016 winner has a gentleman’s agreement supposedly in place with the Saints to let him leave if superior financial terms are offered to him elsewhere, as noted in the report, while Fabinho could welcome a reunion with Mourinho after he signed him during his time at Real Madrid.
It’s added in the Record’s report that in order to make room for the duo, Marcos Rojo will continue to be pushed towards an exit with Valencia interested, while Phil Jones could be sent out on loan to another Premier League club.
Matteo Darmian is also named as a player at risk of being sold before the deadline, but it certainly seems like a lot of work with a great deal of uncertainty and so little time remaining in the window.
If United work fast and perhaps even have certain agreements in place, then the deals could be done. However, it’s a significant reshuffle with various deals involved and so time is undoubtedly against Mourinho if he wishes to make the changes.
Having conceded just one goal in their opening three league games, the unchanged back-four has done its job well so far. However, if this report is to be believed, they could be facing increased competition after the international break.