Jose Mourinho has pin-pointed Tottenham Hotspur full-back Danny Rose as his main transfer target before the window shuts, according to reports.
The 27-year-old, who made the PFA Team of the Year back in May despite being sidelined with knee ligament damage since January, gave an interview to the Sun on Thursday in which he boldly voiced his discontent with Spurs’ lack of transfer activity and expressed a desire to both win trophies and, crucially, move ‘up north’ at some point in his career. Over seven years have elapsed since Rose announced himself to the footballing world with that goal against Arsenal but remains without a single trophy. Mauricio Pochettino stands as the only Premier League boss to have made no new recruits this summer.
And according to Duncan Castles, Mourinho has ordered the club’s hierarchy to centre their focus on securing Rose’s signature before the window shots. The 54-year-old has attempted to incentivise Pochettino further by offering Luke Shaw as part of the deal.
Nothing matters more than solidity in a title race, and left back was one position – among many – that fluctuated to an unhealthy degree at Old Trafford last season, with Mourinho calling on a mixture of Matteo Darmian, Shaw, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Ashley Young. United can
hardly afford to let too much uncertainty creep into that position for much longer.
The Portuguese’s willingness to throw Shaw into the deal suggests that, while keen to hand him a second chance, he still harbours doubts over how often the young defender can be available over the campaign (he will already miss the start with an ankle injury). And with Rose – arguably the best left back in the Premier League and certainly on the country – potentially up for grabs, nobody can blame the boss for wanting to break the bank.
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[…] had been monitoring the left-back over the last few months ahead of a potential bid next summer and some reports claimed he would make signing Rose immediately a priority in light of the defender’s comments. […]