José's frustration may lead him to PSG

12 November 2017 - 00:08 By MARK OGDEN

If José Mourinho starts next season as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach, Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward need look no further than this summer's failure to sign Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan as the moment that his manager's dissatisfaction was ignited at Old Trafford.
Sources have told ESPN FC that United should be taking the speculation surrounding Mourinho and PSG seriously and that the French giants will look to take advantage of any sign of disharmony between the former Chelsea manager and the Old Trafford suits.
PSG already have a coach in Unai Emery, of course, and the Spaniard has the team sitting on top of Ligue 1 and already assured of a place in the Champions League knockout stages. But the former Sevilla coach is also battling to manage a squad crammed with big stars, and even bigger egos, and sources have told ESPN FC that Emery, having failed to win the title last season, will be vulnerable if he does not win the club's first Champions League trophy in May.
Mourinho, with two Champions League titles on his résumé at FC Porto and Inter Milan, is highly regarded by PSG's Qatari owners and did little to subdue their interest by admitting publicly last month that he would not end his career at United, before instantly speaking of the "magic" and "special" atmosphere of Paris.
With Portugal, Italy, Spain and England under his belt, the "Special One" dreams of conquering another league and he has yet to manage in France, but with Pep Guardiola threatening to overshadow him in Manchester for the foreseeable future, a move to PSG would enable him to take on his old rival in Europe with the same limitless budget that Guardiola enjoys at Manchester City.
And despite Mourinho's big-spending at United since succeeding Louis van Gaal last season - he has spent over £300-million on new players in less than 18 months - the failure to go further and meet the £50-million asking price for Perisic, at a time when City were splashing out more than £50-million each on fullbacks Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy, has become a long-standing source of irritation for the United manager.
Sources said that Mourinho was incensed by the delay in signing Nemanja Matic from Chelsea, with last-minute haggling over a tiny difference in valuation denying the player the chance to participate in the summer tour of the US. He eventually arrived in August.
Perisic, meanwhile, remained at Inter, despite Mourinho making it clear to Woodward at the end of last season that the winger was one of the four targets required at United.
The Croatian was keen to make the move, but at 28, there were concerns at United over the size of the fee for a player with little resale value. A compromise could not be reached with Inter, whose valuation was no greater than £5-million more than United's.
Without the width and balance that Perisic would have provided, however, United have lacked variety in games against more organised opponents and the recent decline in goals - £75-million signing Romelu Lukaku has now failed to score in seven matches - has coincided with City opening up an ominous eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
And with PSG seemingly on a mission to land blows on all of their European rivals - they beat Real Madrid to Kylian Mbappé, took Neymar from Barcelona and thwarted City's move for Dani Alves - the French club will know that landing Mourinho would be another huge statement.
The question now is whether United believe Mourinho is worth fighting to keep or whether, ultimately, he is becoming more trouble than he is worth. 
- espn.com..

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