Jose Mourinho delays left-back purchase to monitor Sessegnon and Tierney
Drew Bartle Head Sports Editor
Manchester United have moved quick in this summer’s transfer window, signing Diogo Dalot from Porto and Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk, and many could have been forgiven for thinking that Mourinho would have gone straight in for a new left-back, but that has not been the case.
In fact, according to the Manchester Evening News, Jose Mourinho has ‘shelved’ plans to sign a replacement for out of favour Luke Shaw in order to cast the net a little further and take the time to get the decision right – with the club carefully monitoring Fulham’s 18-year-old Ryan Sessegnon and Celtic’s Kieran Tierney.
The report suggests that signing a left-back may take a back-seat until next year, with United prepared to make the correct decision and leave the current role filled by either Ashley Young or indeed Luke Shaw, who may yet get the chance to impress in pre-season.
Man Utd may well have moved swiftly for Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon had the club failed to gain promotion to the Premier League, but with the Cottagers having done so, Mourinho may see this as an opportunity to view how the 18-year old copes with the top-flight before making a big-money splash – minimising the gamble somewhat.
While Kieran Tierney has been a stalwart in Glasgow under Brendan Rodgers, it would appear the same consideration is being put on the 21-year old who will have another crack at the Champions League – no doubt the Old Trafford scouts will be watching his progress after netting four and assisting 11 last season.
United have also been linked with players such as Alex Sandro at Juventus and Danny Rose at Tottenham, but both would take considerable amounts of money to get out of their clubs – but that could be leveraged with both Spurs and Juve showing interest in Anthony Martial who looks set to leave United this summer.
