Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has tried to deflect the blame for the club’s quiet transfer window away from Jose Mourinho.
There have only been 3 new arrivals at Old Trafford during the summer transfer window: Brazilian midfielder Fred, Diogo Dalot from FC Porto and backup goalkeeper Lee Grant. The club finalised those deals early on, which suggested to supporters that more fresh faces would follow, however, no more new players have brought in since.
Red Devils boss Mourinho led the team to 2nd place in the Premier League last season and will be looking to go one better this year, but with the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool all strengthening there is a growing concern that the club could fall behind their rivals now that the window has closed until January.
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According to The Daily Express, United desperately tried to sign a centre-back over the last week and were linked heavily to Toby Alderwerield, Harry Maguire and Jerome Boateng, ultimately failing to acquire anyone before the transfer deadline.
The Express reports that Club legend and pundit Neville gave his take on the situation tonight, speaking before United’s clash with Leicester in the Premier League, saying to the Sky Sports cameras: ““A few weeks ago, when Jose Mourinho said he handed that list over to his CEO to bring those signings in, he was calling it on, he was pressurising the board.
“Since then obviously they haven’t brought those players in and I think particularly in the areas of centre-back, where it’s been obvious to everybody for 12 months that Manchester United needed an outstanding centre-back or two, they haven’t got that.
“The last week has been a little bit scabby to say the least.”
The ex-defender seems to point the blame for the failed transfers at the board rather than at the Portuguese boss, which suggests that perhaps Mourinho’s relationship with senior club officials, such as Ed Woodward, may currently be strained to say the least.