13/01/2018 22:30, Report by Gemma Thompson
JOSE LOOKS FOR BALANCE IN TRANSFER MARKET
Jose Mourinho says he will always look to get the right balance for his Manchester United squad when it comes to signing players.
With the January transfer window open, the Reds boss is being asked about possible signings every week by the media, while fans always eagerly await any news during this period and in the summer months.
Mourinho admits winter is not a time in which he usually likes to do any business, unless circumstances dictate that purchases are necessary or a top player becomes available.
"Our squad was built not to have new players in January. We built a squad with this idea, this philosophy that I share with [executive vice-chairman] Mr Woodward and the owners, that normally investment is made in the summer," he explained to reporters.
"The balance of the squad is made in the summer, unless you have a dramatic situation with a crazy number of injuries and you are pushed for emergency deals. But sometimes it can happen: on the table there's a fantastic opportunity and you fight for that opportunity.
"If it happens, it happens; if it doesn't happen, it doesn't. But I like my squad, I like my players; the more time I spend with them, the more I like them. And this week [in Dubai] was also good to be sure of that."
Asked whether United should always be challenging in the market for the world's best players, Mourinho added: "It depends. It depends on the moment, on the players, it depends on our needs.
"Normally, next summer, we would try again to improve our squad in the different departments, to try to make every department stronger. That's the normal situation. If, in the window market, you do something, it stops you doing it again in the summer. So you are not going to buy a goalkeeper and buy another goalkeeper in the summer.
"So let's say in the summer we have three targets - a defender, a midfielder and an attacking player - if, in the winter, you do one of the three, then in the summer you are going to do three minus one.
"We like our squad, we believe in our squad - it's just about improving it in a balanced way. So if we do something now, it has to be something we really believe is the right thing to do for the team."