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Mourinho admits he wants to sign a midfielder

Manchester United manager has been discussing his club’s summer transfer plans, and has admitted that midfield is the main area that needs to be strengthened.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News the Portuguese coach said:

“I think in attack it’s very difficult for us to improve. Where are we going to get a better combination of players than we have?”

“We cannot buy Messi, we cannot buy Cristiano. These are the best players of the last decade. Where can we get better players than Mata, Martial, Lingard, Rashford, Sanchez, Lukaku? So, in attack, we have an amazing group of players.

“In midfield Michael Carrick will be not the No.16. Who will have Michael Carrick in his shirt next season, so we lose a player. It’s there in midfield where we need to improve but to get a player to compensate the situation of Michael.

“If Marouane Fellaini leaves we have two gaps there so let’s see what happens. But in relation to Fellaini the good thing is he wants to stay with us and we would like him to stay with us. To sign a contract the person must be happy and let’s see.”

It was reported last week that 36-year-old Carrick will retire at the end of the season, and take up a role on the club’s coaching staff.

In the case of Fellaini, Mourinho and the player would like to keep working together at Old Trafford, although the club and the players representatives remain some way apart in terms of the financial package on offer for him to extend his stay beyond June, when his current deal expires.

United have been heavily linked with Nice’s Jean-Michael Seri and Napoli’s Brazilian born Italy international Jorginho.