Mourinho identified world-class defender as potential signing, but club left it too late: report

Manchester United’s defensive struggles have been alarmingly evident this season, with Jose Mourinho’s men already shipping more goals this term (29) than the entirety of last season (28).

Clearly, it wasn’t for the want of trying. United pushed hard to bring in a new centre-back over the summer, but in the end, their pursuit came up short.

Now, a report from the Daily Mail, per The Metro, leads us to believe that Mourinho already knew about the defensive issue last January; as he tried to move for Virgil van Dijk.

The world-class Dutchman was at Southampton at the time, and United made an enquiry to bring in the centre-half, but left it too late as he was already undergoing a Liverpool medical.

It pains me to say it, but their persistence, determination and desire to spend big and strengthen their defence is why they’re doing so well at the moment. It comes as no surprise to hear that they’ve kept more clean sheets than any other team this season and it certainly was £75million well spent.

Apparently, United only got round to asking Southampton how much Van Dijk would cost, while Liverpool were clearly working harder behind the scenes to push the deal through. It’s these kind of transfer balls-ups that will mean United are left behind, and the problems at this club run far deeper than the playing squad and manager.