Mourinho asked to sell star player to fund move for the Southampton skipper in January
Oct 2, 2016 at 10:47 PM
After a thumping victory over Leicester City at home last weekend, Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by Mark Hughes’ Stoke City this weekend ahead of the international break.
The manager made some marquee signings in the transfer window spending close to £150m, also breaking the record for Paul Pogba, but there was an impending feeling that the squad lacked the kind of sparkle that was needed to dominate the Premier League.
So it is no surprise that the manager has been keeping tabs on most of his top transfer targets even with a couple of months left for the transfer window to re-open.
One such player who is linked extensively with a move to Old Trafford is Southampton skipper Jose Fonte.
Having won the EURO16 with the Portuguese national team, Fonte will be high on confidence and has started this season bang in form. Mourinho is not happy with his options at center back with his summer signing Eric Bailly showing no consistency s far this season.
This has seen the manager make a move for his international colleague who will slot into the first team with ease.
Fonte has plenty of experience in the Premier League and at his age, will be a great acquisition for the Red Devils.
However, the summer spending spree that saw Mourinho break the world record might just come in his way and stop his from getting his hands on Fonte.
According to reports from the Sun, Manchester United, who failed to sign Fonte with a £10m bid in the summer, are not ready to let Mourinho spend more on the squad before off loading some fringe players.
Fonte’s contract with Southampton ends after the next season so Manchester United will have to meet their asking price if they are land their player leaving the manager with no choice to axe a player.
The likes of Memphis Depay, Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian and Marcos Rojo have all been linked with an exit but the Argentine international seems to be at the most risk.
The 26-year old failed to impress in the couple of outings he got this season so far and Mourinho will have to find the right buyer for his full-back in January.
The Red Devils will not find it easy to lure the Saints into selling and it will be interesting to see what Mourinho does to land who is now at the top of his wishlist.
Do you think Mourinho can land Fonte this January?