José Mourinho has not had the instant impact at Manchester United that many had anticipated, but he is continuing to build a squad to fit his needs.
Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly arrived for big money over the summer, while Zlatan Ibrahimović has made a huge difference since joining on a free.
But Mourinho seems to believe his predecessor Louis van Gaal made things more difficult for him by letting a number of potentially important players leave Old Trafford.
“Manchester United sold players that I would never sell and bought players that I would never buy,” Mourinho told Gary Lineker on ‘The Premier League Show’.
When pressed by the ‘Match of the Day’ host on which he wouldn’t have sold, the former Porto manager mentioned three men by name: Ángel Di María, Danny Welbeck and Chicharito.
Welbeck was allowed to leave in Van Gaal’s first transfer window, moving to Arsenal for £16m, while Chicharito found his way to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2015 after being loaned to Real Madrid shortly after the Dutch coach took over.
Di María, meanwhile, is currently thriving in Paris after joining as United’s then-record signing but leaving 12 months later after failing to settle in England.
Watch the full interview on The Premier League Show tonight at 22:00 on BBC Two
