Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has not been shy about his club’s objectives for the upcoming summer transfer window. He’s revealed them on more than one occasion already, and at his news conference on Friday (video at this link), he plainly stated his need and ambition to replace Michael Carrick. The club captain and defensive midfielder is strongly expected to retire at the end of the season and join Mourinho’s coaching staff.
“We need to sign a midfield player because we are going to lose Michael Carrick,” Mourinho said during an emotionally charged press conference that was dominated by the manager’s defensive responses to a few Paul Pogba related topics.
“Of course, we need balance in the team. Yes, we are looking and we are going to try to sign a midfield player.”
Two transfer targets at this position that have often been linked to United are Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri and Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Mourinho has previously ruled out buying an attacking player in the summer, given their acquisition of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal this past window.
“When some of you keep saying that we are going to buy that striker, that winger, that left winger, that right winger, I told you two months ago,” Mourinho continued.
“You can accuse me of many many things, but you cannot say that I lied to you. When I don’t want to say things, I don’t say. But I don’t take you in other directions.
“I told you a couple of months ago that we don’t want to sign any striker or any winger.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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