Manchester United players pose for a team group photo before the match. Photo: Reuters
LONDON: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he is confident that the club will sign at least one more player before the Premier League’s transfer window closes on Aug. 9.
The Portuguese boss expressed his hopes of signing two new recruits after United’s 4-1 defeat by Liverpool in the pre-season International Champions Cup last weekend in the United States but now says one addition seems more probable.
“I am confident I will get one, but I think two I am not going to get which is not a drama,” Mourinho told beIN SPORTS. “In every pre-season it happens the same with every club which is the manager wants more.
“It’s our nature, you always want more for your team but then club decisions are different and normally you don’t get what you want which happened during all my career.
“So if I get one player until the end of the market, that’s fine.”
United have struggled to impress in pre-season with a patchy squad that has been depleted through injuries and key players resting after the World Cup in Russia. Their sole pre-season win came against AC Milan last week.
The club’s inconsistent performances has led Mourinho to express his frustration on multiple occasions throughout the US tour, including criticising individual players and United’s lack of transfer activity.
Goalkeeper Lee Grant, however, has dismissed the notion that Mourinho is unhappy with the squad.
“From what we’re getting from the inside it (the atmosphere around the camp) has been nothing but positive,” Grant told Sky Sports. “The messages we are getting from the manager are positive ones and that is important for us going forward.
“His attitude and demeanour around the place is great and that is helpful for us especially when we are under-manned and we are working our hardest.”
United play Champions League holders Real Madrid and German champions Bayern Munich in their next two friendlies before hosting Leicester City in the opening league fixture on Aug. 10.
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