Transfer Centre

Jose Mourinho to wait for Eric Bailly return instead of signing new defender

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 07 January 2017

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is not planning to sign a new defender in January despite the departure of Eric Bailly to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has claimed that he is not planning to sign a new defender in January, despite the departure of Ivory Coast international Eric Bailly to the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Red Devils have been linked with moves for Southampton centre-back Jose Fonte and Victor Lindelof of Benfica in recent weeks.

According to the Portuguese coach, however, the trio of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo are fit and playing well enough to not warrant a new backline purchase.

When asked by Sky Sports News if he would be delving into the transfer market for a defender, Mourinho replied: "No, I wait for Bailly. I hope the three can control the situation in those eight matches.

"I will try to rest one in every game. On Saturday [against Reading in the FA Cup] I will rest one, against Hull [in Tuesday's EFL Cup semi-final first leg] another.

"We'll try to make a rotation between these three. We still have Daley Blind as the fourth, in case we need him to play there. We have Michael Carrick, so let's try."

United are still competing on four fronts - aside from the Premier League and the FA Cup, which sees them host the Royals in the third round on Saturday, they also have EFL Cup and Europa League fixtures coming up.