Patrick Rees
Manchester United have had a near-to-perfect transfer window so far, but Mourinho is still keen on landing a winger. Having signed the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Victor Lindelof and Nemanja Matic, United have asserted their authority in the Premier League. However, journalist Duncan Castles recently revealed that Mourinho previously tried his luck on signing three world-class players, but to no effect unfortunately.
Duncan Castles, who was speaking on the Transfer Window podcast (h/t Daily Star), said that Mourinho’s transfer window could have been way better had he managed to sign any of the three players he had on his shortlist. The Sunday Times journalist revealed that the Portuguese had the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Neymar and Gareth Bale in his shortlist, but the transfer couldn’t go through for the respective reasons.
“Antoine Griezmann he tried to get, Neymar he was involved in trying to persuade to come to Manchester United, he’s tried to get Gareth Bale.
“He obviously sees that Man Utd need more of that if he’s to make them what he’s expected to – contenders for the Champions League.” he added
Antoine Griezmann has long been a target for Jose Mourinho and United even came close to acquiring his signature. But with Atletico failing in their attempt to lift their transfer ban, the move didn’t materialise. In case of Neymar, the Brazilian had his whopping £198million release clause on his head and was too expensive to even take notice of. PSG, however, had other ideas and went on to activate his clause and lured him to Paris.
Furthermore, Jose Mourinho is a big admirer of Gareth Bale and even went on to quote that he will be ‘waiting for him’ should Madrid allow him to leave anytime soon.
“If he is not in the club’s plans, that with the arrival of another player would mean he was on his way out, I will try to be waiting for him on the other side.” (Independent)
Any one of the players mentioned above would have been a great addition for us but maybe, some things are just meant not to be? I’d simply call this as unfortunate.
