Manchester United: A recruiting dilemma evident after preseason
By Nhan Doan
Moaning Mourinho
Mourinho isn’t the only manager to endure the post-World Cup headache, but he is the only one to develop the miserable manager persona in the public eye. The main point of the preseason is to ease players back to the grueling season routine.
Players are pushed hard to get back into match fitness, but they are encouraged to bond together and make PR appearances. United’s preseason suddenly became a drama show with Mourinho being the protagonist who is on the verge of a defeat and needing reinforcements to secure the comeback.
It is either Mourinho’s classic public utterance display as a part of his mind game, or he has given up on United’s surprising idling in the transfer market. After announcing Fred and Diego Dalot within 24 hours, United has since brought in only Lee Grant, who might not see the field at all in the entire season.
Recent years transfer activity suggests Mourinho wants to get all of his preferred signings before the preseason camp. He got what he wished for in 2016 with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Eric Bailly all signed by July 6th with Paul Pogba completing his deal before the opening day.
He got it, more or less, last summer with the acquisitions of Victor Lindelof, Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku by the end of July, though he has a lot to blame on executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward for failing to deliver Ivan Perisic. His penultimate year at Chelsea also saw Cesc Fabregas, Felipe Luis and Diego Costa’s deals completed before mid-July.