Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has claimed that the club are not in the market for a defender in January — despite the loss of Eric Bailly to the African Nations Cup with Ivory Coast.
Southampton centre-back Jose Fonte has submitted a transfer request at his club, and sources close to United said in December that Mourinho could fast-track attempts to sign Benfica defender Victor Lindelof.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mourinho was asked if he would be shopping for a defender this month. The United manager replied: “No, I wait for Bailly. I hope the three [Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo] can control the situation in those eight matches.
“I will try to rest one in every game. On Saturday, I will rest one [against Reading in the FA Cup], against Hull [in the EFL Cup on Tuesday] another — and we’ll try to make a rotation between these three.
“We still have Daley Blind as the fourth defender in case we need him to play there and we also have Michael Carrick, so let’s try.”
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