Mourinho may have to compromise over transfers

Speaking ahead of United's friendly with Barcelona on Wednesday, the Portuguese maintained that he did not know how United's transfers were progressing as he had left them in the hands of Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

"I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know. No. Ed is in control. He did Lindelof and Lukaku," Mourinho explained.

"He (Woodward) knows that I would like two more players, but he also knows that I have balance, I understand the situation, I understand the market." 

The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss seemed to be aware of the possibility that United may not be able to bring in the players he wants, saying: 'If my club is not able to do two players and is able to do just one, I will accept that as a consequence of the market now."

"Our relation is good and I just wait for good news. He knows that for me good news would be to have the players or maybe just the player as soon as possible."

When asked, the 54-year-old admitted that he would like to add a winger and a midfielder to his squad, hence the links with Ivan Perisic, Nemanja Matic and Renato Sanches.

"One player would be a midfield player that would give me more options to my team, more balance," he exaplined. "The other would be an attacking player that could play through the wings to give me more attacking options."

Is Mourinho mellowing in his old age? Or is he simply trying to play down the expectations of fans following the arrival of Romelu Lukaku?