Jose Mourinho Admits Defeat In Signing One Of His Biggest Targets

It feels an age ago that Manchester United signed Victor Lindelof as they attempted to get all their transfers done early. Since then it's been a bumpy road for the Red Devils and it seems they've missed out on another target.

At the end of the season Jose Mourinho insinuated that Ed Woodward had his list of transfer targets for the summer and the manager expected them to be completed by the time the squad flew to America.

In came Victor Lindelof, a much needed addition to the defence, and then as the club arrived in the United States for their pre-season tour Romelu Lukaku also joined.

_{Lindelof's signing was a long time ago relatively speaking. Image: PA}

However the Europa League champions have been frustrated in their attempts to bring in further additions to their squad with Inter Milan being stubborn over Ivan Perisic's potential move to Old Trafford.

Another position that the former Chelsea boss is clearly trying to strengthen in is midfield as he attempts to sign a defensive player.

Speaking ahead of the friendly game against Barcelona, in the early hours of tomorrow morning UK time, Jose seemed to rule out his chances of signing Eric Dier saying:

"Everybody speaks about the dimension of the investment at Man City, but Tottenham is a team that I feel the dimension of their investment is phenomenal.

"I think until now they spent zero pounds. They keep Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld, Dier, everyone they want to keep."

_{United had reportedly bid £40 million for Dier. Image: PA}

Adding the England midfielder to that list effectively writes off any chance they had to signing him despite what is believed to have been a £40 million bid.

United have been desperate to sign another defensive midfielder to share the workload with new captain Michael Carrick with a move for Chelsea's Nemanja Matic stalling.

Nemanja Matic

_{Another Jose target. Image: PA}

With Perisic's move no closer to happening too it's a frustrating time for Mourinho who has barely improved his squad since last season.

At this point Lukaku is a straight replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lindelof is a replacement for Marcos Rojo until he's back from injury in December.

A title challenge looks a long way off.

Topics: Jose Mourinho, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Eric Dier

Ryan Sidle

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