In recent weeks Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has made his dissatisfaction at his current playing squad clear. Numerous reports suggest the 55-year-old is frustrated at the transfer strategy vice-chairman Ed Woodward is pursuing. Of several centre-backs the club identified as satisfactory signings, none have been secured.
Today the Times revealed the complete list of the nine targets the United scouts identified. Centre-back has been a problematic spot at the club ever since the decline of the Rio Ferdinand/Nemanja Vidić partnership.
In order to address this, an extensive scouting operation was undertaken to produce a comprehensive wishlist: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Alessio Romangnoli (Milan), Milan Skriniar (Inter), Jose Gimenez (Atletico Madrid), Caglar Soyuncu (Freiburg).
The club have endured a slightly chaotic transfer window. Head scout Javier Ribalta left the club to join Zenit St Petersburg, just a year after joining. Anthony Martial and Matteo Darmian both indicated they also want to leave while Fred and Diogo Dalot are the only arrivals of note.
Recently the club has been linked with a move for Harry Maguire, although Sky Sports confirmed Leicester City are holding firm on a £65 million asking fee. The current predicament resulted in a clearly unhappy Mourinho criticising two of his players last night after their 4-1 pre-season friendly loss against Liverpool.
