Mourinho To Snub Real Madrid Star For Barcelona Man
Reuters / Susana Vera
Jose Mourinho is considering the possibility of bringing Samuel Umtiti to Manchester, as his pursuit of Raphael Varane continues to show lack of progress.
Real Madrid rate Varane very highly, and see him as the long-term future of the club’s defence. Hence, Mourinho has found it impossible to convince the Spanish club to even consider selling the Frenchman. The club’s former boss now appears to have given up on his fruitless chase, and has turned his attention towards a star of Real’s arch-rivals.
Umtiti only joined Barcelona last year in a move worth £22 million from Lyon, and has proven to be a fantastic signing. He has become a mainstay at the heart of the Catalan club’s defense, and it comes as no surprise that he is already being linked with big money moves to other clubs.
Mourinho has done a fantastic job of making his side a defensive machine, and the Red Devils have conceded just 5 goals in the Premier League this season. Phil Jones and Eric Bailly have been magnificent at the heart of the defence, but the problems at the back are evident when either of the duo are not on the pitch.
REUTERS/Sergio Perez
Victor Lindelof, who signed for the club last summer, has not been trusted by Jose Mourinho in the Premier League, and he has played just 68 minutes of football in the competition. The centre-back has shown promise in the Champions League, but he was the main culprit for United’s meltdown in the 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield, and his lack of confidence is proving to be a major problem at the moment.
Chris Smalling is the other defensive option, but he can be equally shaky at times, and is often an uneasy presence at the back. All this is a cause for concern for Mourinho, who loves having a team with a wealth of defensive options.
According to reports in the Mirror, Umtiti has a release clause of £53 million in his current contract with Barca. Therefore, the United boss may be left with no choice but to cough up big cash to sign the center-back and solve the defensive issues at the Theatre of Dreams.
Manchester United fan, Wayne Rooney is his role model. Passionate writer who has written for several sites in the past. He’s also an aspiring pianist and creates background music for BlameFootball’s Youtube channel.