Paper Round: United need 'two more years' to become top European contenders, says Jose Mourinho

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho makes Thursday’s back pages after claiming he needs another two years before his club can really be contenders in Europe, again. Mourinho is quoted by the Daily Star as having said that despite being a “giant” club, United cannot depend on it’s reputation alone to compete for major titles.

He said: “We have a giant on our chest which is really heavy, but we don’t compare to the biggest clubs in Europe right now.

“Because Manchester United is a real giant, it doesn’t matter if the club is somewhat far away from that level for three, four, five or 10 years…But our job is to try to bring the football team back to that stature.”

Paper Round’s view: Two years Mourinho might just about get away with, but even he can’t really believe the club’s fans would give him a 10-year grace period? Mourinho is right that with smaller clubs backed by increasingly large resources, there is a wider context to the transfer market and it’s no longer just about which club has the best reputation. That said, a club with a good reputation and decent resources certainly shouldn’t be feeling too hard done by. And, errr, Jose, you’re actually the biggest spending football manager of all time, according to reports this week. This kind of smacks of managing expectations.

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The big story of Thursday’s papers is an “explosive” interview of a Premier League “top-six star” by The Sun, the identity of who was not known at the time of writing. The only clues provided on Wednesday night was the silhouette of the mystery man and some choice quotes from the piece revealing that the player would be prepared to leave the club, feels the club needs to buy more “world-class players” and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he’d like to win some trophies.

Paper Round’s view: But who could it be? Try as we might to identify the blunt-shaped head of this “Top-six star” we’re hedging our bets for Thursday’s big reveal. Naturally, a few names spring to mind, but the only thing we can guarantee at this stage is that whoever this player is, their boss is not going to be happy.

UPDATE: Turns out it's none other than Danny Rose. We'll admit we were thrown by the "top-six" curve ball, too. Anyone else thinking contract negotiations?

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Chelsea winger Willian has revealed he came close to leaving West London in favour of a reunion with former coach Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. The 29-year-old claimed there were “quite a few” conversations between Mourinho – who he says “likes me a lot” – and his agent, but no deal was reached thanks to Chelsea’s refusal to negotiate.

Paper Round’s view: Despite being named player of the year at the end of Mourinho’s final season at Stamford Bridge, Willian’s relationship with new boss Antonio Conte has proven more tricky, with the Italian not favouring him for a starting spot. It has long been rumoured that Willian would seek a move elsewhere, and this is hardly a surprising revelation. Less believable, perhaps, is the Brazil international’s assertion that he is “very happy at Chelsea”.

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