Mourinho and his targets: What it means for Manchester United

Although the ‘Ego’ Zlatan Ibrahimovich is in town, the main signing that Manchester United have made so far is Cote d’Ivoire defender, Eric Bailly has officially put pen to paper, it is however expected that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will become a Mancunian within the next 24 to 48 hours, thus heralding Jose Mourinho’s reign at Old Trafford.
Paul Pogba is also reportedly next in line, as the United executives have given Mourinho the all-clear to chase after the France and Juventus midfielder and make him a Manchester United player – again – as soon as the Euros end.

For United fans, these surely is great news to cheer about, and once again, they will look forward to the new season with huge expectations as was the case during the years of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The United fans have learnt to reduce the extent of their expectations in the three years that followed Ferguson’s retirement, as David Moyes and Louis van Gaal gave very little to cheer about.

But despite the euphoria that is greeting the recent transfer activities at Old Trafford, one pertinent question should be: what does this mean for Manchester United?
Ordinarily, that shouldn’t be a question that should be asked of England’s biggest club, but given the managerial upheavals that has seen the club go through three managers in three years, such questions are now pertinent and rightly so.
Eric Bailly has been in Europe for less than six years and while he is highly-rated and has shown he can be one of the best in the game, there is still a lot for the 22-year old to learn, so why have United paid £30m for such a player?
Jose Mourinho has always built counter-attacking teams with a very strong emphasis on defence, and there have always been certain kinds of defenders that he prefers, so it is not much of a surprise he has gone for Bailly.
The Red Devils played with Chris Smalling and Daley Blind as a central defensive partnership for the most part last season, and while Smalling is expected to retain his place going into the new season, Blind must have know his days at the center of defence were numbered the days Mourinho was confirmed as the new United manager.
Not to take anything away from the Dutchman, he proved to be one of United’s better players in an underwhelming season last term, but he isn’t just a Mourinho kind of central defender and while he may find more playing time at left-back or even in midfield if he isn’t sold, he must know the former Chelsea boss would pick Bailly and even Phil Jones ahead of him in the center of defence.

If things go according to script, Bailly should bring that natural defensive solidity that Mourinho cherishes and that United have lacked since the days of Nemanja Vidic.
Another thing that has left United since Ferguson retired is the fear factor; teams no longer go into games fearing United’s attacking might. That is one thing the Zlatan Ibrahimovic signing should bring.
At 34, and he will be 35 in October, the Swede is reaching the twilight of his career but United and Mourinho believe they can get at least one good year out of him and while we wait to see that, one thing that is sure however, is that his presence will knock some fear into United’s opponents next season, especially the ‘smaller’ clubs.
Another thing that Ibrahimovic is guaranteed to bring is presence and leadership, which the Red Devils have seemingly lacked over the last three years.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is expected to sign this weekend and while you may argue that United have several similar players, not least Juan Mata, the Armenians contribution of 32 assists and 23 goals for Dortmund last season was far greater than that of any United’s attacking player, so his presence may not be overstated after all.

While it still remains to be seen if Paul Pogba will return to the club he left in 2012, the fact that United are willing to match Juventus’ £80m valuation of the player means it will be a case of the player wanting to return to Old Trafford or not.
But in the case that he does return, then United might eventually be on to something special next season.
They have looked somewhat lightweight in the midfield in the last few years, and the signings of Marouane Fellaini, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger haven’t really done much to shore up that area but the addition of Pogba should give United better options.
Overall, it looks like United are on to something special in the new season with the Special One and if they pull these signings off, who knows, maybe the Premier League title will return to the red half of Manchester.