Manchester United transfer news: Jose Mourinho to sell stars to fund his mega moves for Antoine Griezmann and Kostas Manolas
JOSE MOURINHO is ready for a huge summer spending extravaganza after revealing Manchester United’s plan is to “raise pounds to attack” this month.
The Red Devils look unlikely to add to their squad during the January transfer window.
Victor Lindelof looked set to move to Old Trafford, but United baulked at the huge figures quoted by Benfica for the defender, while they remain keen on Roma star Kostas Manolas.
Mourinho has already given the green light for midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin to leave for Everton in a £22million deal.
While he is still keen to offload German World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger despite his recent return to the first team.
And the Portuguese manager has told A Bola that he is ready to keep the club’s wallet in his pocket in order to bring in a number of big-money signings at the end of the season.
He told Portuguese channel Sport TV: “I am convinced that in this winter market we will be sellers and not buyers.
“We want to raise pounds to attack in the summer, as we did this year with the contract of four players.”
Privately, Mourinho confessed that he believed it would take three transfer windows for him to mould United into Premier League title challengers.
He splashed the cash last year to bring in Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly, while also handing Zlatan Ibrahimovic a big money contract to join on a free transfer.
United remain interested in Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann.
They are also looking for defensive reinforcements and another midfielder, with Monaco’s Tiemoue Bakayoko the latest to be monitored by the club.
Mourinho also revealed that Marcos Rojo is facing a race against time to prove his fitness ahead of Sunday's clash with Liverpool.
The Argentina star limped off during the FA Cup win over Reading and missed the EFL Cup semi-final first leg victory over Hull City on Tuesday.
Mourinho added: “Marcos has a muscular problem, not big. I'm not saying he's not ready to play, I'm saying that I have my doubts.”