Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho all smiles after beating City to Alexis Sanchez and new deal
Portuguese chief is enjoying 2018 so far after landing his top target and an extension
THE spring is back in Jose Mourinho’s step.
A glint once more in the eye.
The cat would once again appear to have the cream.
OK, it is Manchester City who have risen to the top this season and are likely to stay there until the end of May.
But Manchester United are bubbling under.
Plans are being put in place to make sure next season the red half of the city comes out of the shadows of the blue.
Being Mourinho, his position always seems to be up for debate.
Yesterday the Special One wanted to put those concerns to bed.
His new contract may well have already been signed earlier in the week when he was in London.
'WE ARE THERE' Jose Mourinho confirms Alexis Sanchez will join Man Utd from Arsenal.. as Chilean trains with Wenger
United appear to be holding out on an announcement so they can deliver a double whammy when Alexis Sanchez finally signs.
Two big announcements on one day has an even greater impact.
But it was clear at the Carrington training complex yesterday that Mourinho is very content at Manchester United and the board are more than happy with him. So signing a new deal has not been a problem.
Mourinho said: “I know that the club is happy and the owners and board are happy and they know I am happy.
“And when it’s the case that one day we decide to do something, we will do it easily — but plenty of time.”
It is not just that Mourinho is content in his position at another one of the game’s giants, arguably the biggest of all.
It is the fact he can see progress — and the signing of Sanchez is another giant step forward.
Proof that the allure of Old Trafford remains and that they can challenge the big cash being splurged down the road at the Etihad.
With City having so many contracts up for renewal, they did not want to be seen to be paying Sanchez an amount calculated at around £505,000 a week.
What would the brilliant Kevin De Bruyne be saying when he goes in to negotiate another deal if the new lad was on that?
Sanchez could have waited until the summer if he really wanted to go to City and the deal would have been done.
He didn’t want to wait, not when United had extended their hand.
Not when he can come to Old Trafford and be a major player and not just a guest at a party which is already in full swing.
Of course, set against what is happening at City, it may seem to some as being the second-best choice.
This is still Manchester United, however, a very big club. When Mourinho said on Boxing Day that while he was at a ‘big club’ he did not yet have a ‘big team’ it was not to denigrate what he had.
What he has got is still very good.
Good enough to win the EFL Cup and Europa League last season and bettered with the signings of Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic last summer.
As Mourinho said yesterday when addressing the signing of Sanchez: “The team is lacking nothing. It is not the point of lacking something or we desperately need something.
“It is just thinking about the improvement of the team in the future.”
It will not end with Sanchez either, with two more major signings set for the summer.
United have not and will not go away and the recent moves by the board have convinced Mourinho they back him in his quest to topple old foe Pep Guardiola.
Not only personally with a new contract but in the transfer market where they have already allowed him to spend £300million.
When he also said back on Boxing Day that amount was not enough, he was right.
Because the gap in the Premier League told you it wasn’t.
Guardiola took over a club in City from a much better starting point.
A team that had only just reached the Champions League semi-finals, as opposed to the last 16 of the Europa League in United’s case. That was probably the difference in the two sides as well.
Mourinho has restored the spirit, restored the confidence. Made players he inherited better, such as Anthony Martial, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Jesse Lingard and now Luke Shaw looks back to his old self again.
It has been tough love from Mourinho but yesterday he acknowledged that young full-back Shaw had taken on board what he has been saying and now he would not swap him for anyone in his position.
Mourinho said: “He was already improving and playing well when I started playing him after that long spell without minutes.
“He is physically much better, mentally much stronger, tactically understanding the game much better and what we need in different phases and circumstances.
“I’m really happy. I can say that in this moment I don’t see many left-backs better than THIS Luke Shaw.”
Next season he does not want to see a better team than his Manchester United.
The planning to make that dream become a reality is well under way.
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