Manchester United could end the summer without making any further signings, BBC’s Simon Stone has revealed. Manager Jose Mourinho has been pushing his board to add to the purchases of FC Porto’s Diogo Dalot, Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fred and Stoke City’s Lee Grant, but with one day to go until the summer transfer window shuts ahead of the start of the Premier League season, United do not appear to be on the cusp of completing any kind of notable deal.
Stone tweeted the following earlier today: “Chances rising of no @ManUtd signing. No bid for (Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby) Alderweireld yet. Costs of (Barcelona’s Yerry) Mina deal prohibitive. “(Bayern Munich’s Jerome) Boateng proposal was loan but that’s now gone. Time for situation to change but who can they get who would make a difference – and at what cost? Jose spent £61m on (Eric) Bailly/(Victor)Lindelof.
“Re signings. United have the money. As I understand it, they don’t want to be drawn into paying big transfer and agents fees for players who are no better than the ones they have.”
Alderweireld had been seen to be the most likely to be added to the squad this summer, and United have been in negotiations for the Belgian defender for some time since it became clear that the Spurs centre back would be open to an exit from North London. But there doesn’t appear to have been any breakthrough in negotiations between the two sides, with United seemingly unable to agree a fee with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, and with time running out, the club runs the risk of going into the new campaign with a hugely disgruntled manager on their hands. Mourinho has frequently and publicly noted his desire for more players this summer, and should the board fail to deliver, then there’s no telling how sour things could turn in the coming months.
