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Man Utd players look dejected heading into training as Jose Mourinho mood engulfs the club
MANCHESTER UNITED players looked miserable as they rolled into training this morning as dark clouds swirl over Old Trafford with Jose Mourinho battling to finish the transfer window on a high.
Mourinho has been frustrated all summer as the World Cup and lack of transfers have disrupted his pre-season plans.
Manchester United finished their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in Germany on Sunday.
And attention has now turned to Leicester on Friday when they open their campaign.
Mourinho has the tall order of cutting short the 19-point gap Manchester City won the title by last season and is fighting with Ed Woodward over the tools to do it.
He wants two more players - a defender and a winger - but thinks he will only get one before Thursday’s deadline.
And his current crop headed for training today in preparation for the opening game with the Foxes.
Romelu Lukaku, Luke Shaw, Juan Mata, Chris Smalling, Nemanja Matic and co were photographed with strained looks on their faces heading into Carrington.
One player who did look in good spirits was Jesse Lingard. The England midfielder greeted children with his signature JLingz pose as he drove in.
The England players - other than Marcus Rashford and Phil Jones - returned this week. Rashford and Jones were back in time to face Bayern.
World Cup winner Paul Pogba returned on Monday along with Lukaku and Mourinho is hoping some of them will make themselves available on Friday.
United are without Matic while Eric Bailly and Ander Herrera are doubtful but Mourinho hopes Pogba, Lukaku, Marouane Fellaini, Lingard and Ashley Young will be able to play a part.
“Rashford will be in a better situation [on Friday] than against Munich, Lindelof and Jones the same,” he said.
“The others are back on Monday. Let’s see if one of the others is ready to give a help, 20-25 minutes, against Leicester. Any help that can come from them is welcome.”
United could still have more players to chose from come Friday with reports this morning that a deal with Toby Alderweireld is in place.
The Belgium defender is keen to leave Tottenham and they will let him go when they have signed a replacement.
United though are worried this will run beyond the deadline and have also approached Bayern Munich over a deal for Jerome Boateng.
Interest in Harry Maguire remains but Leicester have told United he is not for sale and a deal for Yerry Mina broke down with him now heading for either Everton or Lyon
“My CEO [Ed Woodward], he knows what I want for quite a long time, he knows what I want,” Mourinho added.
“I know that he tries the best for me. I still have a few days to wait to see what is going to happen. If we don’t make our team better it will be a difficult season for us.”
Pogba’s future is now in question with Mino Raiola trying to broker a move to Barcelona, but United turned down their first bid of £45m plus Andre Gomes and Yerry Mina.
Pogba is reportedly annoyed with Mourinho’s comments regarding his World Cup performance in Russia.
Man Utd would be crazy to let Paul Pogba go says Nicol
Mourinho said the World Cup was the perfect habitat for the player and suggested he needed to do more in a United shirt.
"I don't think it's about us getting the best out of him, it's about him giving the best he has to give," the United manager told ESPN FC last month.
"I think the World Cup is the perfect habitat for a player like him to give [their] best.
"Why? Because it's closed for a month, where he can only think about football. Where he's with his team on the training camp, completely isolated from the external world, where they focus just on football, where the dimensions of the game can only motivate.
"During a season, you can have a big match then a smaller match, then one even smaller, then you can lose your focus, you can lose your concentration, then comes a big match again.
"In the World Cup, the direction of the emotion, of the responsibility, of the big decisions is always growing up.
"You are in the group phase, you go to the last 16, to the quarterfinals, to the semifinals, to the finals. This feeds the motivation. This feeds the concentration of a player.
"So I think it was the perfect environment for him."