Manchester United coach publicly revealed his disappointment at United’s summer transfer window. Jose Mourinho was desperate to sign a world-class centre-half, however, United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward refused to back his manager.
The Red Devils ended up signing Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant in the summer, with attempts to sign Leicester’s Harry Maguire and Tottenham ace Toby Alderweireld failing to bear fruits.
And speaking after United’s 1-0 defeat against Juventus in the Champions League, Mourinho singled out Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof, hinting his defenders aren’t anywhere near the quality of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.
When asked how far away Manchester United are from Juve, Mourinho said: “A bit far.
“Juventus are champions (of Italy) for seven years in a row, two Champions League finals in the last four or five years and (they are) not happy with what they have, they want more.
“They had (Gonazlo) Higuain, (Mario) Mandzukic, (Paulo) Dybala, they want more. They want (Cristiano) Ronaldo.
“They had (Andrea) Barzagli, Chiellini, (Daniele) Rugani, they are not happy, they want more, they want Bonucci, and they go for the best players in the world.
“How can you reach this level? It’s not easy. We work with what we have. We try to improve.
“To go to the Juventus level? Barcelona level? Real Madrid level? Manchester City level? How can you reach this level? Yes [by buying the best players].
“It is not easy because many of the players they belong to these top teams, so we work with what we have and we try to improve with what we have.
“For example – I saw the amazing Chiellini and amazing Bonucci but I have to say Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof had a very positive game.
“It is the first time Victor plays a game of this dimension and Victor had a positive game; Luke Shaw also in the Champions League at this level of match.
“So good experience for some of the boys – Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku – I think it is the second season he plays Champions League too.
“So we work, we try to improve our players but quality is quality. Juventus were at a different level of quality, stability, experience and knowhow.
“And, again, I repeat: quality in football is everywhere. When I say quality I don’t say just a creative player or just a beautiful player.
“Chiellini and Bonucci were beautiful, absolutely beautiful. But my boys, I’m so happy with what they did.”
United face Everton on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League (4pm kick-off).