The Guardian reports that Manchester United were not willing to go ahead with some of Jose Mourinho’s targets in the summer as they did not believe the players were right for the team.

The report also claims that the board were not willing to let Mourinho get his way with transfers if it meant spending millions of pounds on short-term fixes.

Harry Maguire was one player that was linked (h/t Guardian) with a move to Old Trafford but the club were not willing to spend a huge amount on the Leicester man.

The report also claims that United were not looking to sign Toby Alderweireld from Tottenham given his age and a fee that could be more than £50m.

Big money available for United to spend but on the right targets

The Guardian also adds that the club wanted to spend big on summer signings. United were interested in signing Raphael Varane of Real Madrid and were looking to splash over £100m for the World Cup winner.

The United board were not open to spending money on defenders that they claimed were not better than the players already in the side, which has not gone down well with Mourinho according to the Guardian.

The report puts up another difference between the management and manager as they believe in keeping players such as Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw and Paul Pogba. Ed Woodward is against selling them.

Mourinho is known for his short-term measures but the club want to keep a fine balance between the manager’s requirements and trying to keep him happy.

United have only signed three players in the transfer window, with Diogo Dalot, Fred and Lee Grant joining the side.

Read more: Man United could have signed £75m World Cup star for just £15m last summer

Hopefully, this will all be put to bed soon. Focusing on the matches ahead is now important than worrying about missed targets and Mourinho would know that for sure.