He wants options.
In terms of the current Premier League season, there’s only one number that concerns Manchester United fans, 12. That’s the number of points that Mourinho’s men are currently behind Man City in the race for the title, but if United’s supporters had another concern, it’s the fact that City have already scored 70 league goals – that’s 21 more goals than United’s amount.
Given United’s history of attacking football, the playing style at Old Trafford has always been an issue for any manager to take into account- David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal can testify to that – but not even the most optimistic United fan would expect Jose Mourinho to change his footballing philosophy.
This being said, United fans are hoping that the imminent signing of Sanchez is a statement of intent and Mourinho’s latest comments might offer United supporters some optimism.
After their recent win against Burnley, Mourinho bemoaned a ‘lack of creativity’ in the United squad and said that they need ‘extra competition’ up front.
“In this moment there is no competition for places. In this moment we have four attacking players for three positions, three are starting, one is on the bench, Zlatan for the whole season was not available, we look to central defenders, played Jones and Smalling, Rojo on the bench, Victor [Lindelof] in the stands, [Eric[ Bailly is injured, look to midfield, Fellaini, Herrera, and McTominay on the bench, Carrick in the stands. And we look to the attacking areas and we need that extra competitive internal competition but more solutions for us, so let’s see,” he said.
Sanchez’s move to United from Arsenal is on the verge of being finalised after Henrikh Mkhitaryan agreed to join Arsenal. BBC journalist David Ornstein broke the news on Saturday evening, reporting that the deal will be a straight swap between the clubs, and no transfer fee will be involved.
Mkhitaryan will undergo his medical at some point over the next 48 hours.
If the Sanchez deal is completed, he’s expected to make his debut at Yeovil Town in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday night.
EXCLUSIVE: Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan agrees move to Arsenal in a deal that will see Gunners forward Alexis Sanchez go opposite way. It’s a straight swap, no money involved. Paperwork complete, Mkhitaryan will undergo a medical over the next 2 days #MUFC #AFC
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) January 20, 2018
