Jose Mourinho has made it known to Ed Woodward that Manchester United must spend big if they want to catch up with high-flying rivals Man City, according to reports.
The Portuguese coach has spent around £261m since taking charge at Old Trafford, though recently claimed ‘it is not enough’ after Pep Guardiola twice broke the transfer record for a defender.
Since then, Liverpool have also spent £75m on a defender – Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk – while United have slipped to third place in the league, with City 14 points clear.
And, according to the Manchester Evening News, Mourinho’s comments have been aimed at United’s executive vice-chairman Woodward.
The Portuguese coach believes United’s squad needs a massive overhaul this summer, with Paul Pogba-levels of money needed to be spent on replacements for Michael Carrick and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
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But United were outspent by Chelsea and City in the summer, while Jurgen Klopp has forked out over £150m on Van Dijk, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita in just the last six months.
Mourinho wants his rebuild to begin in January and believes Danny Rose and Mesut Ozil could have a huge impact in the second half of the campaign.
Ozil is out of contract in the summer and has so far refused to sign an extension at Arsenal, though ideally Mourinho would try and persuade the Gunners to sell now rather than lose him for nothing.
Left-back is an area that United desperately need to reinforce and Mourinho is a big fan of Rose, with a potential deal of around £50m, possibly including Luke Shaw, mooted earlier this season.
Now the onus is on Woodward to start delivering for his manager, who still rues his failure to land a left winger after unsuccessfully chasing Inter Milan star Ivan Perisic for much of the summer.
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