“I’ve not enjoyed the last couple of seasons when a few people were laughing at us and people were thinking, “oh, we’re only playing Man United”, he told the Daily Mail. There are a certain numbers of clubs that make it not a Champions League without these clubs. “If during the season we realise the points difference doesn’t allow us to fight for the title, we are going to establish a new title and when you can’t be champion the next target is to finish top four”.
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And while the Premier League champions were unable to win the annual season curtain-raiser, they will surely be ready to kick off the defence of their title away to newly-promoted Hull City on Saturday.
The incoming manager soon identified the key areas to improve and the acquisitions of Eric Bailly, Henrik Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will have United supporters encouraged that the club has done just that. “He works very hard and shows that he really wants to win – he’s a great person”.
He said: “I think we said it previous year as well, a club like Manchester United always wants to play for titles”. They also finished as the top two teams the following season, this time United winning the league. They are winners, pure and simple.
Having seemingly been deemed surplus to requirements again in Manchester, Mourinho will likely be open to offers for Mata and Everton could now satisfy his demands.
He will be assisted by Ibrahimovic, whose late goal sank Leicester in Sunday’s Community Shield, and Pogba, who is poised to complete a world-record return from Juventus costing around 90 million pounds.
As for their new teams, there are many questions to be answered.
However, the only “difficulty” cited by Mourinho was how he was unlike his predecessor, Louis van Gaal. What role does Yaya Toure have under Guardiola, the man who sold him at Barcelona? “My individual performances will come”. Maybe even both, considering Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and even Liverpool are live contenders for the title, not forgetting defending champion Leicester.
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Reputations are on the line, but United and City couldn’t have done much more to get their teams in the right shape for the new season.
