Jose Mourinho gives up hope of landing longstanding transfer target

"They keep everyone they want to keep."

Jose Mourinho appears to have given up any hope of signing Eric Dier. The Manchester United manager is reportedly a fan of Dier, and has been linked with a move for him for several months. Tottenham Hotspur are said to have set a price of £50m for the midfielder. United's opening bid of around £25m was rebuffed by Spurs, and they also reportedly rejected a second bid of £40m. The club's chairman Daniel Levy doesn't want to sell the player, and it appears Mourinho has conceded defeat. https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/876420735992041472 The United manager has been speaking about the transfer window and mentioned how it has worked out well for Spurs, despite the London club not signing any players this summer. Mourinho reckons that they deserve praise for keeping hold of their best players, including Dier, and it should serve them well for the upcoming season. "Everybody speaks about the dimension of the investment at Man City, but there is another team that I feel the dimension of their investment is also phenomenal – Tottenham," he said.

"I think until now they spent zero pounds, right? For me the dimension of their investment is amazing. They keep everybody they want to keep. They keep Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld, they keep Eric Dier, they keep everyone they want to keep. They sold Kyle Walker [to City] I think because they wanted to sell. And probably because they think [Kieran] Trippier is as good as Walker. And he's younger than Walker. They keep everyone they want to keep."

https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/889957215595048960 Mourinho also praised the character of his own squad.   "I don't think we are big candidates for the title, but we are (candidates)," the United said.

"We are not the best squad in the world and don't have the best players in the world, or if we do then we have some, not eight or nine or ten like some other big clubs have. But I like them all. That is something during your career that does not happen every season. It's difficult to like players the way I like these guys."