Like most of us, Jose Mourinho has surrendered himself to the World Cup. Mou has been doing some punditry work for RT, although he hasn't entirely lost sight of the club game while enjoying this feast of international football. Much of his punditry has been refracted through his self-interest: "I want my boy Matic to go on a holiday"; "I don't know why Perisic didn't come to Manchester when I wanted him"; "Pogba showed good maturity", etc.
Mourinho is back to work at United now, and has used his first week back to sell Dutch defender Daley Blind.
Per Simon Stone of the Beeb, Blind is being sold back to Ajax for a fee that could hit £18.5 million.
Daley Blind to Ajax is indeed happening. £14m up to £18.5m. @ManUtd have work to do but no current plan to ignite interest in Toby Alderweireld.
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) July 14, 2018
With no interest at the moment in Alderweireld, there have been rumours linking United with a move for Harry Maguire, which Leicester might attempt to head off by handing the England defender a new contract.
Elsewhere, Chelsea have announced a double capture from Napoli. They've snaffled Maurizio Sarri to replace Antonio Conte as manager, and also completed the signing of midfielder Jorginho. It had been assumed that Jorginho would join Manchester City, and it had been widely reported that Napoli had agreed on a fee with City for the midfielder.
That's not happening now, however, and reports say that City are furious that the deal hasn't gone through. Per the Manchester Evening News, the clubs had agreed a fee for £44 million and had arranged a medical for the player. That's all over now, and it's the second time City have missed out on a major target to a rival English club, having seen Alexis Sanchez join United in January.
City furious about Jorginho situation. Claim Napoli bullied him into going to Chelsea and said they'd force player to see out last two years of his contract if he didn't go there. Napoli 'unprofessional' and City 'never seen an agreement reneged on like this before'.
— Jack Gaughan (@Jack_Gaughan) July 14, 2018
Early reports say that City may not immediately seek an alternative to Jorginho: now that Benjamin Mendy is fit again, Fabian Delph is free to revert to midfield and earn the Ballon D'Or his talent so richly deserves.
