Jose Mourinho missed out on several players during his time as Manchester United manager – and he was never shy to go public about it.
“One thing is what I want and another thing is what is going to happen,” Mourinho said during United’s pre-season tour of USA in 2018, and it was a tale that had been told before.
Here are just some of the players we know about that the Portuguese manager missed while at Old Trafford between 2016 and 2018.
Mats Hummels
In 2016 Bayern Munich defender Hummels turned down a move to United, though it wasn’t really the new manager’s fault.
“There just was not that one English club where the overall package was fitting,” he was quoted as saying in the Manchester Evening News.
“The overall package means: a club which fascinates me; a club I have always wanted to join, and where the sporting constellation is right, and which of course plays Champions League football next season.
“And because of the latter one club was ruled out, and you can envision which club that was.”
Raphael Varane
“It’s not easy to say ‘no’ to Jose Mourinho,” said Varane, when he did just that in 2016.
Mourinho had signed the serial final winner for Real Madrid in 2011 and Varane claimed there had been “indirect contact” again in 2018 while he was away starring in France’s World Cup win.
The Frenchman did eventually join United in 2021, sparking predictions of a title challenge. Instead, he arrived just in time for United’s worst season of the Premier League era.
Harry Maguire
Mourinho chased Maguire for a while and the Yorkshireman certainly didn’t hide his desire to join.
Towards the end of the 2018 summer transfer window, the then Leicester player said: “Every player wants to play at the highest level. I’ve just come back from playing at a World Cup, where I really enjoyed the high pressure of the games, it was something that I really thrived off.
“Leicester have been unbelievable to me and I’m really happy there but I’m also an ambitious player and everyone wants to play at the top.”
But, like with Varane, Maguire would only arrive after Mourinho’s departure.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing since his £80million move to United, but Maguire’s record when paired with Varane in the 2021-22 campaign was actually better than you might imagine…
READ: Man Utd’s record when Maguire and Varane start together is really good…
N’Golo Kante
In 2016, Mourinho targeted a strong central…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…